Fire Fallout: Nuclear Awakening
by MarkMartinMagmaM3
Summary: The year was 2288, 211 years after the world was bathed in the destruction of nuclear power. The world was never going to be the same. But some people, such as The Courier, Sole Survivor, and Lone Wanderer were able to make their respective regions in the American Wasteland able to thrive. Unfortunately for those people, they were going to get involved in a war beyond their world.
1. Chapter 1: Teleporter Blues I

**[This fanfic is not being made only by me, MarkMartinMagmaM3. The reason this exists because of the cooperation between two minds to form this work. If this fic ever gets any praise, just know that me and my Co-Writer, IceBite, are the ones who made this.]**

 **(Otherwise, hope you enjoy the story.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Teleporter Blues I**

The year was 2288, 211 years after the world was bathed in the destruction of nuclear power. One of the countries that were not spared from this apocalyptic disaster was the United States of America. Millions of lives were extinguished the day the bombs fell, and it seemed like the entire population of America was gone, much like everyone else on the planet.

However, humanity was never willing to go extinct. The American Wasteland had pockets of humanity that continued to live despite total nuclear annihilation. Whether it was underground bunkers and vaults, or the questionably lucky few that survived the atomic blasts above ground, humanity had survived the end of the Great War.

But, life after the Great War was never going to be easy as it once was in the past. The Great War was thought to be the last war on this world, but as time went on, people who survived learned that War…War never changes.

* * *

 **October 24, 2288, 8:35 AM, Commonwealth Wasteland.**

Travis William was tinkering around with a complex set of machinery on the backside of the rusted down "Red Rocket" gas station near Sanctuary. The early morning sky was mainly occupied by the bright sun, with small pocket of clouds littered around. The morning sun was what allowed Travis to get up each day, a reminder that life went on.

Taking a small break from attempting to fix the electronics on the console he was working on, Travis looked around the corner to see a familiar face. The red haired woman was getting back from her patrol around the station while casually walking towards him, still wearing her combat covered corset with a Chinese Officer's sword and Super Sledge attached to her back. Travis noticed that she was carrying her double-barreled shotgun in one hand, with the other hand holding a brown bottle, which Travis knew was mostly likely alcohol.

Even after what they went through last year, she was always willing to drink whenever she could. The redhead finally got to him and after taking a moment to drink straight from the bottle, she spoke up.

"Hey Trav, why are you working on that broken machine for? Those eggheads we were fighting got their place destroyed, which make this "junk" pointless." The redhead mumbled. Travis gave her a look, went back to work on the console and without looking at her responded with, "Cait, it may seem pointless to you, but this "junk" was able to work once before, and I'm sure if I fix it up, we could get some real uses out of it."

Cait shook her head while a giving a look of doubt and immediately followed up with "This junk is still fried and you think that you can fix it by yourself?" Travis continued to not look towards Cait when he says "I know I can because I got the plans right next to me" and then points to the blueprints on the box next to him.

Travis gets up while double checking the blueprints, saying "Besides the toasted appearance of the machine, which is more like a coat of dust I need to clean off, I have been working on this for two weeks at least and I'm sure that I am close to being done." while he headed around the corner past Cait to turn into the open garage. The garage had a few work benches and cabinets in it, in addition to a Power Armor Station with a full red and black painted set of T-60 Power Armor.

As Travis passed Cait, she took a moment to look at what he was wearing and just started laughing at the outfit her friend was wearing. She stopped laughing for a second and blurted out "You are still wearing that costume, despite the fact that it looks incredibly stupid on you." in a teasing tone.

"At least this "stupid" costume has saved my hide more than it has embarrassed me, which it has not done yet despite your comment, Cait." Travis said which he followed up with pointing to his black trench coat and matching hat.

After that, Travis took a second to take off his glasses, put them in his pocket, and take out three fusion cores from a nearby cabinet. Travis walked behind the power armor, put the two spare cores in a different pocket, and jammed the remaining core into the back of the armor and began the process to get inside the armor. Once he got in, the armor closed itself automatically,

Travis started talking saying "Well, since you are already here and decided to stop laughing, how about you help me by letting me carry you to allow you to reach the relay to switch it on?" His voice did sound a bit muffled due to the power armor.

Cait responded with "I will, but I want 100 caps for the help."

Travis shook his head and said "How about I pay for the first round back at Sanctuary instead, Deal?" Cait had a small smile on her face and she said "Deal. Just let me put down my drink and holster my shottie."

The two walked back around the corner to the contraption, with Cait placing her bottle on the console at an odd angle and attached her shotgun to her holster on the right side of her torso. Travis motioned Cait to get closer, and went down on one knee to help Cait get onto the shoulders of the armor. After she was done planting her feet in the right spot to keep her balance, Travis slowly moved towards the relay platform underneath the relay dish and got underneath the center of it.

Travis spoke up saying" Cait, I need to turn on a switch that is up and to the left of you." as he was trying to stay still as best he could. Cait looked to her left and saw the switch pointing down, and reached out her arm to push it up. When she got the switch to point upward, she and Travis heard the machine start turning on.

After taking a moment to let Cait down from the shoulders, Travis gave one quick thumb up to Cait, which she responded with the same gesture. However, immediately after they congratulated each other, they heard a strange sound coming from the console and stared at the console. It started to shake violently and it caused the bottle to spill its contents onto the console, which made the console start spewing out sparks and bangs. Just as Travis and Cait were about to begin running away from the potentially explosive machine, they saw a blue and white flash. After the flash disappeared, Travis and Cait suddenly disappeared as the console exploded the moment they were gone.

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 _ **Edit Log (Version 1): Changed some words or sentences and added more spaces to made the story easier to read.**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.1): Added minor changes**_


	2. Chapter 2: Dunwich Magic

**Chapter 2: Dunwich Magic **

**October 24, 2288, 8:50 AM, Capital Wasteland**

Leon Scott wished he didn't wake up this morning. If he just slept in for a bit longer, he could use the excuse to put off what he was doing for tomorrow. But no, he woke up and thought to himself, "I have to get this resolved now or I will just keep thinking about it"

Taking a moment to catch his breath and look at his best friend, Dogmeat, Leon said "C'mon boy, let's get this over with now."

Dogmeat just barked back and Leon took the time to look at the door he and his dog were going to enter. He took one more quick breath, and opened the door, letting Dogmeat enter first and then followed his companion while closing the door behind him.

There was a reason why Leon was acting the way he was. He was going to a location he wanted to forget about, but it had something in there that just made him want to know what it was for. There was a lot of things he seen and experienced eleven years ago that creeped him out, but what he saw from his tour of this location, especially what he witnessed at the dead end of this place struck out the most. This location had a name, a name that would be associated with Capital Wastelanders familiar with its name say that it was haunted.

Its name was the Dunwich Building.

* * *

Leon began exploring the Dunwich ruins once again, with his canine friend following along at a steady pace. As they made their way to the part of the ruins Leon was looking for, they never ran into anything living. Despite not encountering any threats as they moved on, Leon made sure to keep his 10mm pistol ready to fire, just in case. He didn't need to worry about dying immediately thanks to his suit of Ranger Battle Armor, but he wasn't willing to take chances in this place.

After getting to the last door before the caves, Leon told Dogmeat to stay close and they begin to descend the metal stairs to the bottom. When they got down to the end of descending stairs, Leon turned on his Pipboy's light and slowly walked towards the pillar in the middle of the cave. This pillar or whatever it really was had this uncanny design with stone veins surrounding it.

There was something unsettling with this thing, and Leon knew it affect people and objects. The book he brought from Point Lookout to this thing many years ago exploded the moment it made contact and it definitely messed that Jamie fellow that Leon dealt with back then as well. At this point, Leon wondered if this thing was still able to do anything after so much time passed by.

Leon pulled out his pistol and started aiming it at the pillar, thinking about shooting it to see if anything would happen. He mulled the thought over, and decided to pull the trigger once, and the bullet was sent towards the pillar. The bullet did hit the pillar and it did make a sound from the bullet hitting solid stone, but he never heard it hit the ground.

Leon went closer to the pillar to see what happened to the bullet he shot and noticed that the bullet dug into the pillar by a small amount. Despite his mind screaming at him to avoid touching the bullet and getting out of there as soon as possible, Leon pulled the bullet out and dropped it on the ground.

"What is with this thing anyway? It drives people nuts and sets old books exploding like fireworks like it was going out of style." Leon said to Dogmeat, who responded by tilting his head.

Leon shakes his head, blurts out "Well, I think we won't find anything else about this creepy architecture." Taking one deep breath, Leon had a thought in his mind that went like, "I should probably pick up the bullet and try to sell it off for some caps as a cursed bullet "as he went to pick up the bullet.

* * *

Just as he got it off the cave floor, he saw a small purple circle beneath where the bullet was. Leon ordered Dogmeat to get closer to him as he got on his knees and looked around the area that the purple circle was. He found some sort of odd mark on the floor nearby and shined his Pipboy light on it. Nothing happen for a few seconds, but just as Leon was trying to stand back up thinking that he was wasting his time, the ground felt like it opened up and it got Leon and Dogmeat to think were falling into a deeper part of the cave.

However, Leon looked down and saw that the two of them were not going into the ground, but some purple void. A few more seconds passed and the man and his dog disappeared from the cave.

The purple void was still in Leon's vision as time went on, but just when it seems like that it would go on forever, Leon eventually saw the purple void disappear and instead show the dark blue sky and stars. He realized that he was outside and quickly looked around and saw at least four things going on around him.

The first part was that Dogmeat was next to him, and then the next part he saw is what looked like a person and a big metal statue falling out of the sky. The third thing was that he saw what looked to be a large group of people in a forest, and the last, but most important part that he and Dogmeat were actually in the air falling and were about to hit the ground. A few seconds passed, and Leon landed on the ground, knocking the wind out of him, and then Dogmeat landed on his back adding to the pain he was feeling. After recovering and making sure Dogmeat was fine, Leon looked around where he landed.

He looked at Dogmeat and said 'Hey boy, I don't think we are in the Capital Wasteland anymore..." as he saw trees and grass and cliffs.

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 _ **Edit Log (Version 1): Put more spaces between the long parts, and changed one line in this chapter.**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.1): Added minor changes**_


	3. Chapter 3: Teleporter Blues II

**Chapter 3: Teleporter Blues II **

**October 24, 2288, 9:17 AM, Mojave Wasteland.**

Compared to the other regional wastelands in America, the Mojave Wasteland seems like it had less problems and was easy to live in. However, if you asked anyone who lived there seven years ago, they would have said that statement was inaccurate.

There was the threat of armed conflict between two big powers that came from the west and east that could have torn the region apart. In fact, whoever won would have gotten access to control the entire Mojave region, which did happen as it turns out. But it was neither won by the west or the east, or even the original man in charge of New Vegas who was getting involved in the conflict.

No, that victory belong to the new owner of New Vegas, who took what the previous owner had in mind and did it in his own way. The man went on to make sure to ensure the safety of the Mojave region by what he felt was right, and his plan worked out. The Mojave Wasteland has improved greatly over the past seven years since the man won the "game" between the big three by being the ultimate wild card.

* * *

Veronica Santangelo was sitting back in her chair, waiting for her friend to show up. He told her to wait in the guest room in Lucky 38's presidential suite while he went out to get some ingredients for breakfast. That was two hours ago, and she thought that he either was going out of his way to find the ingredients or that he just ditched her.

At this point she was thinking of the latter more than the former and decided to get out of her chair and raid the kitchen for some food. As she entered the kitchen, the former scribe saw a glorious sight, at least for her. She saw that there were at least five Fancy Lad Snack Cakes out on the counter and she was the only one in the suite. She quickly scooped up the boxes of cakes and tried to sneak back to her chair in the guest room and start eating the sweets.

Unfortunately, she hear a somewhat loud ding come from the elevator when she was about to reach the door to the guest room. The ding from the elevator made her jump, causing her to drop every box of snack cakes on the ground. She tried to pick up the boxes from the ground, but by the time she had all the boxes back in her arms, she heard her friend's voice.

Her friend takes a moment to look at the scene he was watching and asks "Veronica, what did I tell you about taking Fancy Lad Snack Cakes?"

Veronica nervously responded with "By taking you mean unlimited access to be the first one to enjoy these cakes, right?"

The man just sighed with a smile on his face. His response was "You know what the punishment is for taking all the snack cakes?"

Veronica took a moment to hold her breath as he followed that statement with, "The punishment is not being able to enjoy my version of a wasteland omelet for breakfast this morning."

Veronica realized what he just said and started trying to give her friend the saddest look she can muster. Thankfully for her, he was looking at her, and after a moment, he said, "You know what, forget about the punishment. You waited long enough for me to get the ingredients for breakfast anyway." followed with a big smile to cheer her up.

Veronica took a moment to smile back and respond with "You were always the one willing to come up with stuff like that, Kyle."

* * *

Kyle Sevon spent the next few minutes working on making two wasteland omelets for himself and his companion. As he was making sure that the omelets were fully cooked, he thought back what he had accomplished in his life so far.

He survived something that should have killed him, helped out a lot of communities with their problems, made a few friends and help them with what issues they had plaguing them, and stop a war from ruining the region. That last one was definitely the hardest of them all, but the reward from it was being the ruler of the Mojave region. He did face problems from the force from the west, also known as the New California Republic, or NCR for short.

The NCR spent a lot of money and resources to attempt incorporating the Mojave into its nation, but Kyle was able to get them to stop. For all of the dumb decisions the NCR made during the past seven years, Kyle still had respect for the NCR, despite its flaws. Thankfully for Kyle, he was able to convince the NCR to make the Mojave be under his ownership, but in exchange, he allowed the NCR to take over the land to the east of the Mojave for themselves. He also promised to protect the trade routes that the NCR had to use to cross the Mojave region.

With that last memory going away, Kyle just finished making the omelets and began eating his after giving his friend her omelet.

After finishing breakfast, Kyle and Veronica took a few minutes to change from their mourning clothes to their "normal" clothes.

For Kyle, he put on his own NCR Veteran Armor, a gift from the NCR from seven years ago for helping them out back then before he owned the Mojave. He took some time to place his nice gambler hat into his Pipboy's storage. Kyle won the hat from one of the New Vegas strip's casinos before being banned from said casino for winning too much. He also made sure to also store his set of authority shades as well.

For his friend, Veronica, she was wearing a reinforced suit of metal armor with her hood coming out of the neck hole of the armor and made sure to cover her hair. She wished that she was wearing her own personal set of Power Armor, but due to a rather recent freak accident involving a hot plate, a frag grenade, five microfusion cells, and lastly, a box of cram, the armor was ruined. It was in dire need of repair and Kyle said that it was going to take some time for him to fix it up, so he got her a set of reinforced metal armor to use till then. They met up at the elevator and Kyle hit the button on the panel to head to the penthouse of the Lucky 38.

* * *

The penthouse looked very different compared to what it once looked right before Kyle was around. Instead of being perfectly clean and very organized, it was slightly less clean and organized due to the presence of lockers and containers placed around the penthouse. Some lockers held varying sets of armor, others held weapons in different sizes and components and junk needed in making tools and other associated goods.

There was also one big modification in the penthouse and it was the room to the right of the giant computer screen room. That room was made into a teleporter transfer area. As it turns out, Kyle's life was definitely unique because he always managed to find a way to get involved in something big, which as this room showed involved a lot of scientific problems and senile scientists. Much like the issue of the war for control of the Mojave, Kyle was able to gain control of these senile scientists and made sure their work would be benefiting human life instead of making morally questionable experiments.

One such project was the construction of a teleporter pad to allow travel between New Vegas and the headquarters of the Big MT. His friends doubted his story about this research facility, but it was safe to say that they all learned that he was telling the truth and it lead to him putting the device in the Penthouse.

Kyle and Veronica get out of the elevator and head towards the teleporter pad room. They were going to test to see if they can get two people at once to be teleported instead of one person at a time. They actually tested it with two caged radroaches, and as it turns out it did work out without any damage to the radroaches. But that was just the case with giant roaches, not two adult humans. The two were getting ready by making sure they had their preferred weapons on their person or in the case of Kyle, in his pipboy storage space, which they did.

"Well, Veronica, It is time to test this thing out. You ready?" Kyle asked his companion.

"Yeah, as ready as I ever will be Kyle" Veronica said as she took a deep breath and waited for Kyle to hit the button.

Kyle counted down for 3 seconds and hit the button after 3 seconds passed. The machine started turning on and began the process to teleport the duo to their destination. Kyle always felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world, but even he had fears that his luck would run out one day.

What he never knew was that today was going to be the day that it would become the most unlucky day of his entire life, but luck is an odd thing. Sometimes the worst of luck turns out to be the best after looking over what happened again.

* * *

 **Date: Unknown, Year: Unknown, Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown**

The first thing the duo noticed was that they were nowhere near the target destination the teleporter was made for. The second and more important thing was that they were currently falling from the sky, and the moment they realized that, they both began screaming as they fell.

Continuing to scream as they descended, they caught some interesting sights with their eyes, which were two different pairs of people falling from the sky much just like they were. One pair was a man and a dog, while the other pair was a woman along with someone in a giant suit of Power Armor. The duo didn't have much time to think about those other people because Kyle ending up hitting something on his way down.

From his perspective, he managed to hit some sort of flying creature and someone that was on said creature with his entire body. After the collision was over, the rider of the creature was falling with Kyle and Veronica to the ground and all three of them landed on the ground.

Veronica felt lucky, because she managed to land in some bushes to help break her fall, but Kyle got the short end of the luck stick. He didn't fall on a bush; he ended up falling on small grass, which did not help break his fall at all. And just when he thought the pain would be over, the person he knocked over in his decent landed on his back.

Veronica recovered quickly and got up and out of the bush to find Kyle. As it turns out, he was right next to her, give or take a foot or two away. Veronica started talking saying, "Kyle, are you alright? It looks like you took a beating from that fall." while she helped Kyle by pulling Kyle out underneath the person that was on him to get him on his feet. "Yeah, it hurts like being rammed by a Brahmin with its heads, but I'll be fine." Kyle said in a pain filled tone.

A few seconds passed as Kyle was supported by Veronica in getting him to stand up. Unfortunately, just as he was able to stand on his own two feet without Veronica's help, they heard a group of people shouting someone's name. They looked around where they heard the voices, and saw the rather large group armed with weapons staring at them. Kyle and Veronica looked back at the person still on the ground and then to the armed group. They quickly realized they may have just gotten into a potential bloody conflict. The first thought that Kyle had to himself was basically, "What kind of mess did I get involved in now?"

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 _ **Edit Log (Version 1): Much like the previous chapters, more spaces were added to break up the long paragraphs for easier reading. In addition, one major change was made for one certain sentence, followed by adding one more sentence for Kyle's equipment for continuity in future chapters.**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.1): Added minor changes**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.2): Added more minor changes**_


	4. Chapter 4: Midnight Slaying Part 1

**Author's Notes**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Hello readers. This is MarkMartinMagmaM3"**

 ***Loud howling sound sounds***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Is that what I think it is? Oh… I need Anti Air missiles now!"**

 ***Covenant Banshee crashes through ceiling, before crashing into the ground***

 **IceBite: *emerges from wreckage* "...Meh, it's a rental…'Sup?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Sup? You just crashed an alien flying craft on the ceiling, wasted our budget renting it, and made a reference to a series not in this work, and all you say is "Sup?" What do you have to say about this now?"**

 **IceBite: *thinks* "... … ...We can sue the rental place for false advertising because they PROMISED, in writing, that these things can do this kind of stuff all the time, and it didn't?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I got a gut feeling that what you just said was not in the contract, and even if it was, we are not going to be able to win, and even if we did, WE LOST A LOT OF MONEY! ALL THANKS TO YOU!" *Taking a deep breath and regaining composure* "Let's just let the folks who want to read the fic be able to read it."**

 **IceBite: "Speaking of which...who was supposed to pay the electric bill?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "What?"**

 ***Power gets turned off.***

 ***End Author's Notes*  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Midnight Slaying: Part 1**

As Travis and Cait were falling out of the sky, Travis was trying to convince Cait to calm down, but she was screaming so loudly, he doubted that she could hear him. So, he did the next best thing, which was to grab her and hold onto to her as they landed on the ground.

Thankfully for Travis, as the power armor landed on the ground, the force that he would have felt on his legs was instead put on the armor. This force that went in eventually came back out in the small area around the legs of the armor due to the impact or something like that.

While Travis was able to figure out how to modify Power Armor, he never did find out how the leg portions of the power armor frame were not breaking from falling from incredibly high heights, but the answer to that question was not important. The big question on Travis' mind that he wanted an answer for was "Where did we just get teleported to?"

"Hey Trav, thanks for saving me skin, but where in the world are we at right now?" Cait questioned as she saw their surroundings.

"Some part of me wants to say that we found an untouched part of the commonwealth, but the rest of me is telling me that we are nowhere near the commonwealth." Travis responded with as he looked around as well.

What they saw was a lot of green grass and trees that didn't look they died a long time ago, in fact, they looked really healthy from what they could tell. Cait looked back at Travis and asked, "Can you check your Pipboy to see if we are anywhere near the commonwealth?"

Travis responded with "Yeah, I can, but I need to get out of this armor first." and then pressed the button inside the armor to let him out.

After taking a few seconds to get out and let the armor close up, Travis looked at the Pipboy on his right arm and started trying to find the regional map data. As he got the Pipboy to try to retrieve regional map data, the screen just ended up showing nothing at all. When he saw that blank screen, his mood quickly changed from confused to worry.

Cait was able to read his face when that happened and also started to get worried as well. Travis took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm.

He followed up with saying, "Well, either my Pipboy got messed up due to us being teleported somewhere or that the area we are in is not allowing us to get the map data we need." Cait listened to what he was saying and made sure to unholster her shotgun. She checked the barrels to see if they were loaded, which they were, and started to wait for Travis to come up with a plan.

Travis double checked his Pipboy and saw that he was still able to use the compass to get somewhat of an idea which direction they could head in. Looking at the compass, he noticed that he was facing south, so he hopped back into the suit of power armor. He made sure to tell Cait that they should start moving to see if they can find some people that could help explain where they were.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Leon took a moment to look at the compass on his Pipboy as he looked around. He was currently facing west according to the compass and just started walking with Dogmeat tagging along behind him. He still had his 10mm pistol in his hands, ready to fire if he needed to.

As he walked past a few trees, he saw something in the corners of his eye that was going to cross his path. Taking a moment to check what it was, he found out that it was the person and what he thought was a metal statue, which turned out to be some form of power armor that someone was using, during his descent from the sky. Leon debated in his head about asking them if they knew where they were, but he just went with his gut and slowly moved towards them.

As he got closer into their hearing range, he yelled "Hey, are you two friendly?"

The person outside the armor, a woman he noticed, responded with, "That depends on whether you're friendly as well, pal"

Leon made sure to respond quickly when he said "Yes, I am friendly as well."

After which, Leon started asking for their names as he made his way to them. The woman told him that her name was Cait, and the person in the power armor was Travis, which Leon took that name as a sign that was a guy inside the power armor.

When they asked him for his name, he responded with saying that his name was Leon and the dog following him was called Dogmeat. Cait asked him if he knew where they were and Leon told them that he had no clue. He asked the two of them the same question and their response was about the same as his.

"Well, since it seems like everyone here is lost, why don't we agree to travel together till we find some form of civilization that could tell us where in the world we are?" Leon said to Travis and Cait. Cait followed up with asking Travis if he was willing to let this guy tag along.

Travis ended up saying, "Well, at this point we may as get as much help as we can. So, yes you and your dog can tag along, Leon." as he started to get ready to move. Cait agreed with Travis, and told Leon to keep up as the two started moving.

* * *

As they continue to travel southward, Travis took a moment to think out his question he was making when he heard Leon had a dog that was called Dogmeat. But just as he was to try to get more information about this man and his dog, he heard something up ahead.

Since Travis was leading the small group, he looked behind and quietly tells his companions to keep quiet, because he heard something up ahead. Cait did a motion across her lips to say that she was going to be silent, and Leon gave a quiet whistle and command for Dogmeat to avoid barking. The group remained quiet as they continued moving forward.

After a few seconds, they saw a lot of people up ahead, which meant that something big going on. As they tried to stay out of sight, the group worked their way getting close enough to be able to intervene if they had to. From the spot they were, which was behind a big rock next to a set of trees, Travis poked his head out to see if he can find out what was going on.

From what he could see, there were two people wearing familiar looking armor next to someone on the ground, which looked to be a female that had odd clothing on. Directly across from them with some amount of distance was a large mob of oddly dressed people armed with what looked to be swords, lances, and axes.

* * *

Just as Travis was about to relay what he was seeing to the rest of his group, he saw Leon without Dogmeat bolting over to the party of three. Travis turned around to look at Cait and saw that she was agitated that Leon took off. They both looked at each other, as to say that they agreed to go back up Leon quickly. They got out of their hiding spot and told Dogmeat to catch up with Leon.

However, one of the figures, a man in plate armor and a suit under the armor, turned his lance on the approaching people. "Halt! Who are you?" Leon stopped and responded with, "Look, what my name is not important at the moment. The more important part is what is going on around here?"

"What's going on here?" repeated a young woman in red armor, with short red hair, "What's going on here is that these two dastards knocked our friend out of the air!"

"Easy, Sully," stated a young man with navy blue hair and wearing strange armor with the left arm better protected than the right, and a cape, while wielding a strange, pristine sword in his right hand. "My name is Chrom, and as Sully here said, these two knocked our companion, Aria, off her Pegasus…"

"Indeed," stated a young woman with blonde hair styled with strange spirals, while wearing unusual clothing with a pair of pauldrons attached to it, a staff of some kind with a spherical jewel at one end in her right hand, a green book held under her left arm, "She was heading to reinforce one of our flanks when these two came out of nowhere and knocked her to the ground."

Leon took this information and turned to look at the two across the mob of oddly dressed people. He asked a question, which went like, "Okay, so now that I know that, what do you two have to say about this?"

The man responded with, "First thing I need to say is that we had no intention of harming this "Aria" person. We just ended up falling from the sky without a reason for us, and somehow managed to hit this "Aria" and whatever you said was a Pegasus."

The woman also answered up saying, "We don't even know where we are, and I just want to say for the two of us, that we are not your enemy."

Leon heard what they said, but he wanted to know a bit more, so he asked one more question. He asked, "What are your names?" to the man and woman. The man spoke first, saying his name was Kyle, followed by the woman, who said her name was Veronica. Leon made sure to note their names, and looked back to the "Chrom" fellow, saying, "Well, sounds to me that this was a freak accident and they meant no harm, would you agree with that?"

Chrom thinks for a moment, before saying, "Well...from the sounds of things, I agree, yes…I just hope Aria is alright...that was quite a fall…"

A groan sounded from behind Kyle and Veronica. "...Gah...Yeah...I'm fine…" Kyle and Veronica looked behind themselves to see that this "Aria" was waking up. Kyle did sort of a double take from seeing that this "Aria" was in fact a lady that he accidentally harmed. From what he saw, Aria's hair color was a mix of grey and brown, and the hair itself was long enough to cover her ears from the side. Besides her odd looking outfit, her face looked really beautiful and that was what he was thinking off when he got done seeing what she looked like.

Veronica noticed that Kyle continued to keep looking at Aria, and gave him a rather hard nudge on his arm to stop. Kyle realized that he was staring at her, and nervously asked, "Aria, are you, uh, still doing okay despite that impact?"

She nodded, holding her head a bit. "Yeah...I think so…" Aria then noticed him, and seemed to stare at him for a time.

After a minute or so…"Uhm...Aria?"

Aria snapped her attention towards Chrom. "Oh, yes?"

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Chrom

"For the third time, yes, I'm fine…" Soon enough, a black pegasus landed nearby and approached the young woman.

Leon, Kyle, and Veronica took a moment to be stunned by the creature that just appeared and all three of them looked towards Aria, saying at the same time, "That's the creature you call a Pegasus?"

She looked at them quizzically, and replied, "Yes...you've never seen one before?"

The three of them answered her question honestly saying "No, we never seen one before."

As they were answering her question, Travis, Cait, and Dogmeat caught up to Leon, standing next to him. At that moment, Aria's gaze turned analytical, like a veteran commander sizing up potential opponents. "...Hmmm...Odd armor and clothing...Strange armor for a General...unusual Mercenaries...holding unusual weapons… … ...Hmmm...Tell me...do the names 'Ylisse', 'Marth', 'Naga', 'Plegia', or 'Grima' mean anything to you?"

Leon, Cait, and Travis spoke up with all three saying, "No, never heard of those names." followed by Kyle and Veronica giving a similar response as well.

Aria soon began pacing, muttering to herself, occasional snippets of her thought processes being heard. "...Don't know of Naga...Exalts...Hero-King...Fell Dragon…"As Aria continued to pace herself, Travis, Cait, Veronica, Kyle, Leon, and even Dogmeat started turning their heads at what she was saying.

The first one to speak up was Travis actually, with him asking, "Are you thinking about some rare edition of Grognak The Barbarian that you have?"

Immediately, Aria's head darted up and she stared at him. "'Grognak the Barbarian'? Is that some figure in your history or something?" The moment Travis heard her say that, his mind started connecting dots that formed a bigger question.

He thought it over, and responded with, "Okay, you don't know what Grognak is, but do you know if wherever we are is in the United States of America?" Travis noticed that Kyle, Veronica, Cait, and Leon gave signs that they knew what he was referring to, yet Aria was taking her time to give her response.

"...I haven't heard of the United States...you're currently on the Carrion Isle, in Plegia… … ...I have a feeling you all are far from home...quite far…" Aria replied, still with her analytical expression. Cait, not taking a very good reaction from what she just heard, angrily saying, "Aria here thinks we are just going to fall for this lie? I know we are in the US, and they are just trying to confuse us, when they know the truth." Her anger was clouding her mind and she started getting her shotgun ready.

Aria actually seemed genuinely hurt by the accusation, her expression saddening. Not to mention, the group accompanying Chrom seemed to tense; even Chrom's grip tightened on his sword a bit as the redhead mercenary readied her strange weapon. Travis noticing Cait's actions, immediately yells, "Cait, What do you think you are doing? You are about to cause a fight that we don't want at all."

Cait, still angry, yelled back with, "Travis, we are in the middle of nowhere, except I'm sure we are somewhere because these people know this place, and are just trying to con us for our caps for information."

As the two were bickering, Veronica whispered to Kyle, saying, "Something tells me that we may need to get her to accept the truth."

Kyle laughed quietly, responding back with, "You sure what Aria was saying was true? Because I am having a hard time trying to believe it…but something in my gut says she isn't lying."

After that quip from Kyle, Leon spoke up, failing to keep his composure. "Cait, I think what we just heard is the truth, and you need to accept it." he said as loud as he can without yelling and with the most serious look he could muster. After a few seconds, Cait quickly went from anger to sadness with her tearing up, a sign that she finally accepts the fact as it is. That no matter how many times they try to deny it in their minds, they were definitely not anywhere near home.

Cait struggling to speak said, "Leon, you are right, but it means that me, you, Kyle, Veronica, Travis, and Dogmeat may not be able to get back home." She wanted to say more, but she couldn't get any more words out. As she took deep breaths, Travis made sure to comfort her as best he could at the moment by holding her hand.

Seeing things starting to settle down, Chrom's group relaxed a little. "...I can't pretend to understand how you're all feeling about this, and I don't know how much we CAN help...but I can see if there is anything we CAN do to help...Would you join us? We're currently trying to fight a battle against an army of Risen that have surrounded our camp."

Thinking about what Chrom had just said following Cait's emotional reaction, Kyle decided to do one thing. He spoke up one last time, saying specifically to Cait, Veronica, Leon, and Travis, "Well, it's the only real chance we got and I think we need to accept it."

As he finished saying those words, the four all nodded with their heads, saying yes. Kyle taking the role as leader for the moment went to where Chrom was and offered his hand out saying "I think it is unanimous, we will join you and we will appreciate any help you can give us."

Chrom smiled and grasped Kyle's hand, accepting the handshake. "Glad to hear it...now, we need to get ready...the Risen could be here at any moment…" Kyle responded with, "Something tells me this will be easy, especially for us." pointing to the odd group he was in charge of. "I know how talented me and Veronica are, and I'm sure Leon, Cait, Travis, and even that dog, Dogmeat are talented as well. I know that because these people come from the land we know as the American Wasteland, a land that was destroyed by war, but not the war you are thinking of. The war where our world ended in total destruction…"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **IceBite: "So...what did I tell you?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: That I need to make sure I mail the bill payment before the due date.**

 **IceBite: "That, and about suing that friggin rental company: I TOLD you those guys falsely advertised their Banshees' capabilities."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I know that now, so while I go work out getting the case started and getting legal advice later so we can win, I got to stop you and ask you a critical question. Do you think the Fallout Cast would win a battle against the Fire Emblem Awakening Cast?"**

 **IceBite: "Well, with the magic, flying units, numbers, and a tactician that can see EVERYONE'S stats, the Fire Emblem cast would win."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Well, Fallout has the advantage in armor, weapons, and skill. They would easily win."**

 **IceBite: "The Awakening Crew are no slouches either. Fire Emblem. "**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I still say Fallout."**

 **IceBite: "Fire Emblem."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Fallout"**

 **IceBite: "FIRE EMBLEM!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "FALLOUT"**

 ***Automatic ending device activated*  
**

* * *

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1): Added more spaces to break up the long paragraphs.**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.1): Added minor changes**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.2): Added changes in Author's Notes and added spaces.**_


	5. Chapter 5: Midnight Slaying Part 2

**Author's Notes**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Welcome back to the Author's Notes section of this fic. As of now, we have won the lawsuit against the rental company and made a boatload of money. Any comment you want to give, Ice?"**

 **IceBite: "Yeah: where's that damned gemstone of mine? I wanna make a lightsaber someday, and if I'm gonna do that, there's two things I need: money saved up, and that FRIGGIN gemstone!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: I'm sure I placed it next to the other thing I bought with the money. *points to a lawn chair across the room*"**

 **IceBite: "Ah, there it is." *picks up black lightsaber crystal* "Alright...now just need to eventually get the other parts… … ...Then find a portal to one of those 'Create Your Own Adventure' Universes…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "You didn't even ask me why I got the lawn chair."**

 **IceBite: *confused* "...Why...would I?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Because it is not an ordinary lawn chair, it is a ROCKET LAWNCHAIR! *Hops on lawn chair, pulls lever on side of it, and blasts off to the ceiling.*"**

 **IceBite: "... … ...And he yelled at me for renting a Banshee?" *looks at the crystal* "I found this thing laying around on my way here one day, so he can't gripe at me about this… … …" *shrugs* "I don't know when he's gonna get back… … ...so until then...I guess…" *looks at the reader* "...Enjoy…"**

 **End Author's Notes  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Midnight Slaying Part 2**

 **A few minutes later…**

Kyle and his small band of wastelanders that he was in charge of were taking a moment to discuss what each person could do for this upcoming battle. Kyle asked what Travis is skilled at, which he responded with saying, "I got a lot of medical experience with treating combat wounds."

Kyle gave an odd look at Travis and responded with, "You know how to treat combat wounds?"

Travis quickly spoke back saying, "It's a very long story, and I don't think it's a good time to tell it right now."

Kyle took the hint that he needs to move on and asked what Cait's specialty was. The redhead answered up with, "I have been a pit fighter for a long time, so I know a lot about fighting up close and personally. That's why I have these "tools" on hand." while pointing to her two barrel shotgun, modified sledgehammer, and sword.

After that, Kyle asked what Leon brought to the table, and Leon messed around with his Pipboy. As he got his weapons out by removing them from the Pipboy's storage system, he placed them on the ground to let the rest of the group see what he had. From what Leon saw, only Travis and Cait were surprised by one particular weapon, which looked like some sort of sword made from junk. After seeing that, Leon made sure to pick it up and made sure to get it ready to show what it could do.

"Well, for the folks who don't know what this is, I would like to introduce to you, the Shishkabob." Leon stated as he turned on the fuel for the sword to catch fire, which it did. The look he got from Cait were bringing a smile to his face, and he was sure Travis was doing the same as Cait.

Kyle took a moment to give a hard nudge on Leon, motioning him to stop showing off. Turning the Shishkabob off, Leon said, "Besides that, I am a pretty good shot with these rifles I got on me as well."

Taking note of that info, along with the past info, Kyle shot Veronica a look as if saying, "You're next." Veronica took a second to clear her throat, and just started talking. "So, my specialty is punching people really hard and being able to take hits. Otherwise, I know how to build things by myself and that's about it", she said as she showed off her modified power fist on her right arm.

After that, Kyle looked over at Dogmeat with a confused look. Leon piped up and said, 'Kyle, Dogmeat may look like a normal dog to you, but I know that he is no ordinary dog. I think, heck I know, that he is tougher than he looks because he just scoffs off stuff that should have killed him a long time ago and he is my dog."

Everyone else was intrigued by Leon's comment about Dogmeat, but quickly changed focus to Kyle. Kyle looked around and elaborated, "Well, what I can do is shoot these two babies fast.", while getting his two unique revolvers from his Pipboy's storage.

"And in case those don't work, I got these as well." he said as he pulled out a custom hunting shotgun and gauss rifle.

He spoke up one more time saying, "Even then, I got one last trick up my sleeve, or in this case, my hand." Kyle put on his armed glove, and made sure everyone was able to see it. "It is a Ballistic Fist. The unholy son of a power fist gauntlet and a shotgun in one weapon."

After that, Kyle made sure to say, "Now that we know what each of us can do, I'm going to meet with Chrom to come up with a plan that incorporates us into the battle. Make sure to be ready to follow what orders you get. "

* * *

With that said and done, Kyle went away from the group to meet up with Chrom, heading towards the makeshift tent that was made up to allow a place to formulate the battle plans.

After getting to the tent, Kyle went inside to see Chrom and Aria standing and talking in front of a table with what looks to be a map of the place they were in and a lot of books stacked on top of each other. Kyle took a moment to catch Chrom's attention by speaking up and saying, "Well Chrom, I just got back from learning what my each member of my group was skilled in, and uh, came in to see what we could work adding them into your battle plan."

Chrom smiled and replied, "I see...well, the one you should talk to is Aria here. She's the Tactician of the Shepherds." Aria waved a little nervously to Kyle shortly after Chrom said that. "Oh, I took it that you were the one leading the orders around here, but I guess I was wrong." Kyle said.

Taking a moment to try to move on from that mistake, Kyle focused his attention on Aria while saying, "So Aria, you are the one in charge of organizing the battle plan for the Shepherds. Well, as I said earlier, I want to make sure the planner in charge knows what we bring to the table so to say."

Aria nodded. "Alright...let's see what you have to offer…" The two began talking about the talents and skills of each member of their respective group. It took a long time, mainly due to the large number of Shepherds that were all experienced in battles. Eventually, they figured out who should go with whom for this battle.

Most of the Shepherds picked for the battle were paired up with other Shepherds or didn't get paired up at all, but there two pairs that stood out. The first pair was Travis and Lissa due to Travis' medical skill and ability to assist his partner with making sure everyone was being healed. The second pair, which surprised Kyle, was a team up between himself and Aria.

Kyle wanted to question Aria about why she chose him to be her partner, but didn't say anything. Trying to move from that thought, he saw that Leon and Dogmeat were going to be part of the battle by themselves, along one female Shepherd named Cordelia also going alone, to act as a quick response healer. With Kyle agreeing with Aria's plan, he left the tent to make sure to his group knew their order, while Aria began organizing her group together as well.

* * *

 **Near the Shepherds' Camp**

As the selected warriors and wastelanders made their way towards the area north of the camp, Aria explained that they were fighting Risen until they suddenly disappeared and Aria believed that they were moving towards one of their flanks. Taking the initiative, she was in transit to the flank, but got intercepted by a falling Kyle. She also heard from some of the other Shepherds that around the time that event happened, the Risen that were still around started moving northward. She finished with saying that is why they were heading up north, to deal with them.

When the large group made it to the area where the Risen were last seen, they all noticed there was no Risen around, as if they went further up north. They continued in that direction, until they reached what appeared to be a valley, with a bridge above and to the back of it. In this area, was also a trio of forts, there the group arrived from. However, it was obvious, from the sounds coming from inside, there were Risen in these forts.

Aria scanned the battlefield for a time...before pointing at the bridge. "Up there…" Where she was pointing, was a larger, more powerful-looking Risen, with slightly different garments than the others. Kyle looked at where Aria pointed, and followed up with, "Well, if that big guy is up there, where are the rest?" Immediately after he said that, he noticed what everyone else was reacting to besides the Risen on the bridge.

...The fact that there were also Risen closing in all around them…

Kyle, deciding to try keeping things under control yelled out loud, "Everyone, they may be around us and closing in, but we can't lose hope. We need to secure the areas around the paths that can take us to the bridge."

Chrom, who was right next to Kyle and Aria, alongside Maribelle, smiled. "It sounds like you have experience in giving speeches."

Kyle feeling a bit glad about Chrom's words, responded back with, "Thanks for that. I was in plenty of situations where my words were needed to inspire others." Taking a moment to scan the battlefield over again and the sky, Kyle said one more thing to Chrom, which was, "Chrom, are you seeing what I am seeing? Because what I am seeing is a giant swarm of crows heading right towards us..."

* * *

Before Chrom could say anything… … …

CAW! CAW! CAW!

"Gods, they're upon us!" Chrom exclaimed as the crows reached them.

"CAW! CAW! Are you folks lost? Or perhaps a lost CAWs? Heh ha!" came a voice from the massive cloud of crows. Kyle listened to the voice and came to one conclusion, which he shouted, "Oh man…please tell me that I did not just hear a swarm of crows just talk to us and make a bad joke."

"Oh, come now…" The swarm of crows soon dispersed...revealing a young man with white hair, closed eyes, and a seemingly-perpetual smile on his face. He was garbed in robes possessing markings similar to those on Tharja's robe and Aria's cloak. The young man then continued, in cheerful tone, "My jokes are no CAWs to be mean! NYA HA HA!"

Kyle looked at the rather odd young man, thinking to himself, "Man, this guy thinks he must be a great comedian for coming up with lame crow puns." Regaining his thoughts, Kyle spoke up yelling, "Hey crow boy, what is your name and what are you doing out here in the middle of this battlefield?"

"The ravens wanted me to give you a message. "Caaw... C-caw-caw." Roughly translated, it means... Hmm, now what was the human word for that again? ...Traipse? ...Tripe? Oh, TRAPPED! Right! ...They say you're trapped."

Chrom, a little annoyed, replied, "We know, damn it! Gods... Where did they all come from?"

The young man replied, still smiling and still cheerful, "Well, see, when a mommy zombie and a daddy zombie love each other very much... Nya ha ha!"

Kyle groaned once again, taking his time to ask the question again, except focusing on one part. "Well, we know why you are here, but we still want your name crow boy, so I ask one more time, what is your name?"

"NYA HA HA! Name's Henry, Dark Mage, at your service!" the now-named Henry stated, bowing theatrically. Kyle was feeling odd about this "Henry" fellow, but something in his gut said he should let the guy be helpful. Looking over his fellow teammates, he ended on looking at Leon, debating in his head if he should get Leon to keep an eye on Henry.

Kyle came to a conclusion, and voiced his thoughts to Leon, which was, "Hey Leon, I want you to get over here and be Henry's partner. Henry looks like he can handle himself, but I want you to back him up." Leon responded back with, "Are you that confident that I will able to work with this guy?" Kyle spoke up again saying, "Yes, I think you and Henry can work just fine, so hurry up."

Leon didn't want to object any further, so he took one deep breath and quickly moved to where Henry was. As Leon met Henry face to face, he made sure to introduce himself by saying, "Well, my name is Leon as you may have heard, and it looks like I'm going to be your partner for this battle."

Henry's smile never left his face...for a second. "Well, glad to meet ya partner, I'm Henry. Come on! I wonder just how much blood these things pour out when you kill 'em." As soon as Leon heard the words about blood and killing, two things popped in his mind.

The first one was that he just got partnered up with potentially the most bloodthirsty person he ever met. The second one and more important part to Leon at least, was the thought that his odd quirk could affect Henry. The odd 'quirk" that Leon was worried about was his uncanny ability to unintentionally cause more damage to the bodies of his enemies than he wanted. This thought also reminded him of the first day the "quirk" appeared in the past.

* * *

One day out in the Capital Wasteland, Leon was in the middle of a shootout with a bunch of raiders that wanted to kill him and take his stuff for themselves. Leon was armed with his 10mm pistol and was firing back on one raider that was trying to close the distance and smack Leon with the sledgehammer he was carrying.

As the moronic raider got closer, Leon aimed his gun at the raider's left leg and pulled the trigger, hoping that the shot would get the idiot to fall on the ground in pain allowing Leon to get a chance to pick off his buddies. Instead, something very different happened instead. As the bullet hit the raider's left leg, his remaining limbs suddenly went from fine to not fine as they exploded into bits and chunks. The unlucky raider screamed in excruciating pain as he fell to the ground.

His associates saw what happened and they ended up screaming as well until Leon picked it off one by one. After the last one collapsed from getting shot in the head by Leon's pistol, Leon took a moment to look for the now limbless raider he shot. As it turns out, the unfortunate bloke was still alive, and still able to talk albeit in a weak tone from the pain. The man yelled at the top of his lungs saying, "What is wrong with you?"

Despite being the target of this raider's kill list for today, Leon did feel a little bit bad about what happened. Taking a deep breath, Leon spoke up for the dying raider saying, "I don't know what is wrong with me, but I know now that I feel bad for you and that is saying a lot by the way given what was going on before…. Well, I am going to do you a favor; I'm not going to let you die like that."

The dying raider realized what he just heard and accepted the fact that it was over for him and as he accepted that sad fact, Leon shot him one time, this time in the head just to be sure he die quickly rather than slowly. Ever since that day, Leon felt he was cursed with this odd trait, which he now associates as a "quirk" instead of calling it a curse. He eventually got somewhat used to it, but it always made him feel like it was going to bring harm to him some day.

And as Leon finished that last part of his memory about that particular day, he realized that today was that one day he feared since then. Just as he was going to say something to Henry, Kyle's voice once again rose up, this time giving orders. "Okay, this is it everyone. We need to clear the forts south of us of the Risen they hold, and then we need to split up to handle both sides of this valley. After that, we bolt to that bridge and kick that big Risen off the bridge. So let's go slay some Risen!"

* * *

After Kyle shouted out the orders, Cait and Veronica took the initiative to begin running towards the forts. As they made their way closer to the middle fort, they were able to see some risen that were carrying axes and swords. Just as they were able to see them, the Risen noticed them and started moving towards them, ready to strike them down.

The first Risen to make a attack was running with an axe aimed at Cait. As the axe was swung towards her, Cait made sure to dodge and pull her super sledge off her back. When she finally got it off, she counter attacked the Risen with a swing of her own. The super sledge managed to hit the axe carrying Risen in the torso and launch it back a few feet. As the Risen landed on the ground, it dissolved into smoke and disappeared.

Just as Cait was staring at the location where the axe Risen turned into smoke, she heard a noise and quickly turned around to see a sword carrying Risen about to slash her. However, as the Risen was about to strike, Veronica jumped in the way using her power fist to block the slash. As the sword attack got blocked, Veronica followed up with a power fist uppercut aimed directly at the sword Risen's head. The impact from the uppercut made the Risen end up going high enough to end up landing on his front side after landing on the ground.

Much like the one before, it dissolved into smoke and disappeared. Cait took a moment to look at Veronica and said, "Thanks for blocking that slash." Veronica responded back with a quick, "No problem" and continued to look out for Risen. They saw two more Risen charging at them and made sure they were ready to strike back.

* * *

While Cait and Veronica dealt with the Risen at the middle fort, Leon and Henry made their way to the fort to the east of that one. As they got close, they also saw axe and sword welding Risen. Taking a moment to pull out his trusty hunting rifle, Leon made sure to note where the Risen were. From what he saw, there were three Risen grouped together to his left and two grouped at his right. Leon spoke to Henry saying, "I got the three on the left. Can you handle the two on the right?"

Henry pulled out a purple book with a strange heart/diamond shape on it. "NYA HA HA! Sure! Just a bit of this...and that...aaaaaaand-" A blast of dark energy shot forward from Henry's hand (the one opposite of the one holding the book)..."RUIN!"...and slammed into one of the Risen, blasting it to and the one next to it into pieces and splashing dark ichor everywhere, before those pieces and liquid dissolved into smoke.

As Leon witnessed what he saw, and feeling like he didn't want to be outclassed, he spoke up saying, "Well, great job on that, but watch this." Leon tapped a button on his Pipboy and aimed his rifle at the group of three Risen. From his perspective, the Risen were highlighted in green and he quickly scanned them to allow him to make the best shots.

After one deep breath, Leon quickly shot the leftmost Risen in the head, followed by firing a shot to the one in the middle, and ended it with one more shot aimed for the head for the one right of the middle. As the bullets traveled towards their selected targets, the group of three just noticed Leon and Henry.

However, immediately after that, all three of their heads exploded into chunks as each bullet hit them. The now headless trio of Risen fell to the ground and dissolved into smoke. Leon flashed a smile while saying, "And that was what I did." He turned to look at Henry, but immediately felt like he should have not done that.

"Ooooooohhhhhhh…" was all Henry could say at first, seeming in awe. "...Can...you teach me...how to do that? So much blood…" Henry seemed...WAY...too happy when saying that. Leon felt really creeped out by the way Henry said that and quickly responded (in a somewhat scared tone) with, "Uh… just thinking about it, I think I will decline from teaching you have to do that… I already having enough problems with the curse I got already, and to teach you how to do what I was cursed with is a giant red flag that says bad idea written all over it."

"Curse? I'm good with curses!" Henry said, still cheerfully. After Henry said that, Leon realized the mistake he made with calling his "curse" instead of calling it the "quirk" name he had.

Leon took a moment to make a fake cough which got followed up with, "I said curse earlier right? I just remembered that is not the right word I would use to describe it. It's more of a 'quirk" of mine that just leaves… You know what, I'll tell you that story later. We need to get back into focusing on the battle."

"Right! And then, while fighting, I might get an idea of how your 'quirk' works!" Henry cheerfully replied. "Yeah, I think that a great idea…' Leon said under his breath, trying to make sure Henry didn't hear him.

The thought on his mind was basically screaming, "Why? Oh why did I get paired with this psychopath for this battle?" as the two moved on to take out more Risen.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

Facing another of the forts was a certain Courier and the Tactician/Dark Flier he was paired up with for this fight. Both were currently on the latter's Pegasus, flying above the fort. Kyle kept an eye out for a area to land in get the jump on the Risen. The two were not spotted yet, and after looking for a little bit longer, Kyle found a great location to land. "Hey Aria, If you land right there and let me get off, I can get the jump on them." he said as he pointed to a open spot that the Risen were not looking at.

Aria looked at the location, before nodding. "Yeah, seems good. Alright, hold on tight." Aria then turned her Pegasus to land at the indicated location. Kyle hopped off the Pegasus quietly, and made sure to stick low to the ground. He motioned Aria to get back in the air, as he mouthed out, "Make sure you cover my back if I get spotted."

Aria nodded in reply. "Alright," she mouthed back, before ascending into the air once more. With Aria ready to back him up, Kyle began slowly and silently moving towards a Risen somewhat next to the fort. As he made his way, he noticed that the Risen was facing one direction and not looking around at all. When Kyle inched his way close enough to the Risen without being seen, he quickly turned on his Pipboy silently and got his trusty gauntlet out.

After making sure it was equipped, Kyle sneaked up behind the Risen, and threw a quick jab at its back. As the armed gloved hit the Risen in its back, the two small barrels on the glove fired two buck shots into the back as well. The Risen fell forward into the ground fast and dissolved into smoke. Kyle made sure to take some time to looking around in case any other nearby Risen heard any noise. Thankfully, there were no Risen around that were close enough to hear the blast from the barrels.

As Kyle continued to sneak around towards the fort, he got hid around a corner that was part of the fort's walls He noticed around the corner that there was a pair of Risen near one of the entrances to the fort. The pair of Risen looked at each other and occasionally looked to their sides every now and then. Making sure to note their distance away from each other, Kyle went away from the corner and worked his way to find a good spot to pick the two off. He found a small bush in front of the entrance that was far away enough from the Risen to allow him to hide in it.

After getting in the bush, Kyle activated his Pipboy one more time and pulled out one of his revolvers. Kyle made sure to grab the revolver that was named "Lucky" and checked to make sure it was loaded. It was and Kyle poked his head out of the bush to get a good shot. He quickly aimed at the Risen on the left and fired three times in its direction. The three shots ended up heating the Risen in the chest and it fell over in a second. The Risen on the right heard the gunshots and started running towards where it heard them. Kyle quickly changed his aim and fired three shots at the charging Risen and it got hit by the bullets. It went from running to falling on the ground, but not without sliding along the ground for two seconds due to its momentum. The two slain Risen dissolved into smoke and Kyle made his way to the entrance of the fort.

However, as Kyle made it to the entrance, the gate on the entrance opened up and a lance wielding Risen started running out. It spotted Kyle and immediately made some noise, signaling that it was going to start gunning for Kyle. Kyle immediately began reloading Lucky as fast as he can, but while he was loading the fifth bullet into the chamber, the Risen was ready to strike with his lance.

Kyle tried to dodge as best he could, but the attack the Risen made managed to hit his left shoulder. Still trying to reload and dodge at the same time, Kyle ended up falling on his back due to stepping on a loose rock. His gun managed to fall out his hands when he landed, and he had enough time to get his upper body off the ground.

Unfortunately, just as his upper body got off the ground, the lance wielding Risen was about to strike one more time, but this time at his head. Kyle tried to grab Lucky from the ground, but the lance was about to hit his head and Kyle closed his eyes thinking, "This is going to hurt a lot…. "

"THORON!" A massive beam of lightning shot down and struck the Risen, throwing it to the ground and annihilating it. Kyle opening his eyes after hearing that and realized two things. The first was that there was no lance sticking out of his head and that the Risen was on the ground defeated. After getting off the ground, Kyle made sure to pick up Lucky as well and then he saw Aria descending towards him. He spoke up saying, "So I take it you were the one that managed to save my face from getting skewered?"

Aria nodded. "Yes. I'm glad I managed it in time as well...I was ambushed by a couple of Risen Wyvern Riders, so I had to fight them off before helping out down here…So...sorry, I couldn't get here sooner…"

Kyle responded with a smile, gladly saying, "Don't worry about it, you made it in the nick of time and that is all that matters, well for me at least." Kyle made sure to look back at the fort and then Aria saying, "Well, how about we stop talking and let's get back to clearing this fort of Risen. I still hear a few more inside."

Aria nodded. "Right," she replied. Kyle made sure to put the last round in Lucky after Aria responded, and began moving towards the gate with Aria in tow.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

As the forts were being cleaned of Risen, Travis and Lissa were staying behind the offensive line making sure to be on standby for any healing. As the battle went on, some of the shepherds and wastelanders were heading towards them to get patched up before charging back out to the forts to continue fighting Risen.

Each time someone showed up to get healed, Travis made sure to ask where their wounds were so he could inject those wounds with a stimpack followed by Lissa's healing magic. Eventually, the two medics saw Dogmeat running past them and heading up north. Travis stopped to see what Dogmeat was up to, and saw an interesting sight. He tapped Lissa on the shoulder a few times and said, "Hey Lissa, you should see what I am seeing... "

"What?" the spritely sage asked. Travis responded only by pointing in the direction where he was currently asking Lissa to witness. Lissa took a moment to see what he was pointing at, but when she saw what it was, she learned that it definitely was a sight to behold. What the two were seeing was Dogmeat fighting against a bunch of Risen by himself.

To their surprise, Dogmeat was actually winning because the dog keep dodging every attack the Risen made. As the two continued to watch, Dogmeat managed to jump on one of the Risen and bite multiple times at its throats till it fell on its back. This continued happening at least three more times till there four Risen on the ground. They all dissolved and Dogmeat started moving southward to look for more Risen to fight. The two were silent for at least a minute until Travis said, "Well, if there's one thing I learned today, it is the fact that Dogmeat should not be underestimated at all."

"Yeah… … ...I wish we had a dog like that!" Lissa exclaimed. Travis responded with a sly remark, "Well, if that Dog ever has puppies, I'm sure they would grow up just to be like him." As Travis finished saying his response, he felt an odd sense in the air. Taking a moment to go with his sixth sense giving him a potential warning, he looked around the area the two were in.

Because Travis did that, he spotted a Risen that just appeared from behind them and it was aiming for Lissa with its sword. Travis immediately shoved Lissa out of the way as the Risen took a swipe at her. Unfortunately, Travis' quick response was not able to make sure Lissa got away unscathed, because her right arm did get slashed enough to draw blood.

After the Risen attacked, Travis yelled at the top of his lungs and started punching the Risen as fast as he can. Travis was still inside his power armor and the hands of the power armor definitely helped him with his punching power and the Risen started taking a nasty beat down. The sword holding Risen took a punch hard enough to get it be disoriented, which allowed Travis an opportunity to finish it off.

Travis charged at the dazed Risen and delivers a powerful haymaker that dropped the undead creature to the ground. Travis followed up with jumping up and striking the armor's elbow into the Risen's chest as it fell to the ground. After getting back up and noting that the Risen was now beaten to a fine pulp and dissolved into smoke, Travis got out of his power armor and sprinted over to Lissa, getting ready to heal her if he had to. When he finally caught up with Lissa, he asked, "Lissa, I see that you got wounded. Want me to patch you up or do you think you can keep going?"

For the first time, Lissa was able to see the armored individual without his armor: he was wearing a greyish coat of some kind with a near-white scarf inside it, a hat with a brim encircling it, and boots and gloves of some kind.

She was giving a odd look from seeing what Travis was wearing and Travis did catch on that she was curious about the outfit. Travis spoke up saying, "I see that you are staring at this outfit because it looks so strange. Well, you need to trust me when I say this, but this outfit has saved my life more times than I can count. That is why I continue to wear to this day. "Travis waited for a response from Lissa.

Lissa nodded. "Alright…" Travis made sure to refocus and instead inquired about her wound. "Hey Lissa, I hate to ask this again, but do you think you can still continue working with that wound or do you need me to fix it up?"

"Oh, well...it'll be a little distracting, but I should be fine...if anything, I could just use a Vulnerary on it…" Travis heard what she said, and checked his Pipboy. He remembered that he may have one following when he was told he was going to be paired up with Lissa, Travis quickly remembered that Kyle handed him a strange looking bottle filled with something odd. Kyle told him that it was one of the healing items that these Shepherds used on their wounds.

After taking a few seconds to locate the bottled medicine, Travis got it out and held it in his hand. He spoke up saying, "You said you need a Vulnerary right? I got it right here if it is the thing you are looking for that wound."

Lissa smiled. "I appreciate it, but I have a couple myself," she replied. Travis also made sure to smile back when saying, "Well, in case you run out of those, I got a spare ready to go in case we need it." Travis put the Vulnerary back into his Pipboy's storage, and said one more thing before he started moving. He said, "Well, with that settled, I need to get back in my other suit of armor and make sure no enemy of ours gets the drop on us again."

Lissa nodded. "Right," she replied. Travis went back to his power armor and got back inside it. He made his way back to Lissa afterwards and continued to provide assistance as needed.

* * *

Some time passed, and the forts to the south were cleared out of the Risen that were inside. With that done and the lower part of the valley near the bridge cleared of Risen, it was time to tackle the upper areas of the valley.

Aria suggested that the force they had should split up to take on each side of the valley. The team that would take the left side included Chrom, Maribelle, Aria, Kyle, Donnel, Cherche, Frederick, and Anna. The right side of the valley would be handed by Cait, Veronica, Henry, Leon, Dogmeat, Virion, Gregor, and Cordelia. Cordelia was sent with the second team to be a quick response healer for that side.

Everyone else not selected in those teams was to make sure to defend the forts in case more Risen showed out from the south. As the two teams moved up their designated paths to the upper parts of the valley, they fought the Risen that were up there. There were some forts along the way to the bridge, but due to the strategic plan made by Aria, the forts and Risen were taken care of without much difficulty. The two teams eventually made their way to where the bridge was, and they all saw the Risen Chieftain that was on it.

Kyle was just about to get on the bridge when he came up with a great idea. He looked for Aria and motioned for her to get nearby. Aria seemed to consider a moment, before doing so. Kyle spoke up saying, "Hey Aria, I got a crazy idea that just may work, but I need you to listen to my directions so that this works. I want you to make sure I can get in the air next to this big guy over there and keep your Pegasus as still as you can while I line up the shot I need to take with this baby right here." while getting his custom Gauss rifle out and armed. He said one more thing which was, "Can you do that?"

Aria looked at the rifle, then at the Risen Chief, before nodding. "I think I can do that." Kyle smiled and said, "Good, now let's get this plan rolling." as he hopped on the Pegasus with Aria. As the two made their way towards the spot on the bridge where the Risen Chieftain was occupying, Kyle made sure to look down the scope on the rifle.

After getting into position, which was above the Chieftain and parallel to the bridge outside his reach, Kyle was saying, "Steady. Keep it steady. I almost got the shot." A few seconds passed and Kyle lined up his shot perfectly and he pulled the trigger on his rifle. The Gauss rifle fired its shot, which hit the Chieftain in the head and made it stumble back a bit.

However, when Kyle put down the rifle to stop seeing through the scope, he saw that the Chieftain was still alive. He yelled, "What?! How did he live through a shot like that? If that shot made on anyone else, they would have been dead already."

"Risen are more durable than the living...and Risen Chiefs are even more durable…" Aria replied. Kyle was about to reload his rifle to take another shot, but he ended up not doing that. Instead, he noticed one particular Shepherd making a mad dash towards the Chieftain. Kyle looked through his scope to see who it was, and he was surprised by who he saw.

Kyle turned his head towards Aria and asked one question which was, "Hey Aria, uh...I think I forgot to ask this before the battle started, but how good is Chrom at combat?"

Aria smiled. "Probably the best swordsman out of all of us, barring maybe Lon'qu. During the war 2 years ago, he was the one who took down the Mad King Gangrel…Why do you ask?" Kyle responded with, "I asked because I just saw Chrom running towards that Chieftain by himself…" as he pointed out where Chrom was at that moment.

Aria looked where Kyle indicated...and huffed. "There he goes again...Well...we better stay close...it's already going to be loud enough hearing Maribelle scold him without her turning towards us when we were in a position to help…" Aria then began to approach the bridge, where Chrom was now engaged in battle with the weakened Risen Chief.

However, with Chrom's greater skill and the injury the Risen Chief suffered at the hands of Kyle's Gauss Rifle, Chrom was easily able inflict more and more damage on the Risen Chief, until finally, one strike in the right place managed to take down the Chief, causing it, and almost every other Risen in the area, to dissolve into purple smoke. "Well...that's that…" Aria stated, turning towards Kyle. Kyle retorted, "Indeed, now the only question I have left to ask is now what do we do?"

"We'll regroup, and while we think we know the culprit, the 'who', we need to figure out HOW this happened…" Aria replied.

Kyle tried to come with something witty to say and what he said was, "Well, while we get that part figured out, which means you need to fill me and my pals in a lot of details and information that we don't know compared what you and your people know. Also, I hope that when you said "regroup", you mean that we get to go the camp you guys mentioned because this wound I got is going to get blood all over my armor and red does not go well with the color of this armor."

"Oh...I...I see...well, yes, we're going back to camp…" At that, Aria steered her Pegasus back towards camp. Kyle just made sure to wait for the moment when they arrive at the camp, all the while thinking of one thing, that he would like to get some sleep in a bed for once since he got here.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **IceBite: "...Where the HELL is he?! I got bitten by a mutated spider while looking for him… … ...At least the lab was kind enough to give me sufficient compensation for it… … ...Got enough money to make my Lightsaber now…" *Looks around, sighs* "Well...wasn't the next chapter meant for the Lucina Reveal and Supports between the Fallout and Fire Emblem characters? Wonder how well they'll get along…"**

 ***Rocket Lawn Chair flies by with MarkMartinMagma still on it***

 **MarkMartinMagma:* Yelling at the top of his lungs as he passes by* "IT'S GOING TO BE INTERESTING BECAUSE THEY WILL ALL GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER A BIT MORE AND SEE HOW MUCH THEY HAVE IN COMMON FOR SOME OF THEM!"**

 ***Rocket Lawn Chair starts spewing smoke and crashes into the wall very fast***

 ***Screen changes to footage of a video of "Technical Difficulties" with small text bellow saying, "We are sorry for the interruption, but come back later for when this goes away."  
**

* * *

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1): Added more spaces to break up the large paragraphs and other spots to allow for easier reading.**_

 _ **Edit Log (Version 1.1): Added some not so minor changes.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Nuclear Supports I

**Author's Notes**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Camera turns onto to see Mark bound in a bed covered in bandages* *Mark starts talking to himself. "That Rocket Lawnchair was still worth this pain I ended up with. I definitely didn't end wasting my money. Nope, not at all…."***

 **IceBite: "...And you griped at me over the Banshee?" *flourishes his new black-bladed lightsaber***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Focuses attention to Ice* "You do know that you can make a lightsaber with a flashlight, some gems, and duct tape, right? I can show ya, if you jam that Stimpack next to my bed into me."**

 **IceBite: *raises eyebrow* "I already have a lightsaber...and would one like that REALLY cut through anything?" *tosses a piece of garbage into the air, before slashing it with the lightsaber, cutting it in half***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Yeah, the version I can is just as effective as that and you can make lots of them without having to spend a lot of money. Now, are you going to give me that Stimpack, or just stand there wasting time?"**

 **IceBite: "Fine…But you're gonna have to explain why you didn't say anything BEFORE I used all that money from that lab to buy the parts for this thing..." *picks up Stimpack and jams it into Mark's arm***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Tears off every bandage, looking like he was never hurt at all* *Starts making his version of a Lightsaber, while saying, "What was that about money from a lab? Did you go volunteer for some lab experiment when I was flying around on that lawn chair?"**

 **IceBite: "No...I had to go through the thing looking for you and got bit by one of the mutated animals there. The money was paid in compensation for it...there is ONE good thing that came of it, though…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *is about to finishing his version of a lightsaber as he says, "And what is that?"* *finishes making lightsaber and powers it on, showing the blade in question changing colors as time goes on***

 **IceBite: "The animal in question…" *grins* "...It was a spider." *Suddenly slings a web from his hand, before jumping out the window and swinging off, singing* "SLING US A WEB, YOU'RE THE SPIDER MAN! Sling us a web tonight!..." *continues singing as he swings off***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "HEY! Get back here, I just finished making the lightsaber...*Sighs* Great, he's gone and now he is a man and a spider all in one… I hate spiders…*Sighs one more time* May as well get the story running till he gets back."**

 **End Author's Notes**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Nuclear Supports: Part I**

 **Some time later...**

Kyle was still thinking about how much he really wanted to get in a bed right about now. He eventually got taken away his thoughts when Aria said that they just made it to the camp. The two began descending from the sky as the Pegasus made its way to the ground. Kyle made sure to look around the camp to see if there was anything odd about it. To his surprise, the camp didn't have really anything that stood out, except for the fact that was a lot of tents, but then he remembered that the Shepherds were a very large group. It seems that there was a ratio of one tent for each person in the Sheperds group, and with the recent arrival of Kyle, Travis, Cait, Veronica, Leon, Dogmeat, and Henry, they just added at least 7 people to this already crowded camp.

As he finished that thought, the Pegasus finally landed on the ground. Aria and Kyle made sure to get off the flying creature. Kyle took a moment to feel his left shoulder and winced in pain from touching the wound. His hand was coated in blood and he felt a little bit lightheaded. He made sure to get Aria's attention by saying, "Yeah, I think I need to get this wound fixed up before it gets any worse. Does this camp have a medical tent for treating wounds like these?"

Aria nodded. "Yes, I was planning to take you there…"

Kyle responded with, "Good, cause I don't know where it is. By the way, I think I'm starting to get woozy…" as he fell to the ground face first. Kyle quickly pulled himself off the ground saying, "Do you mind helping me get over to the medical tent?"

"I was planning on it," Aria replied, starting to help him.

Kyle made sure to let Aria help carry him as the two made their way to the medical tent. Kyle ended up trying to start a conversation with saying, "So, do you have any questions you want to ask about me?"

"Well, I am wondering about the weapons you used...not to mention that armor or outfit or whatever you're wearing…and that thing on your arm that you kept messing with..." Aria replied.

"Well, since you asked, I guess I will start with my weapons." Kyle took a moment to gather the words he was going to use to answer Aria's questions. He spoke up saying, "Well, the first thing I need to say is a good chunk of the weapons I have are things called guns. I take it that you don't know what I am referring to…"

Kyle took a second to make a motion to let Aria to stop moving. He quickly pulled his Pipboy and got out Lucky. He told Aria to look at the weapon he was holding in his right hand (the one that was actually coated in blood from touching the wound.)

As Aria made sure to look at the weapon, Kyle began saying, "So, here is what a gun may look like. Guns come in many varieties, but they all do the same thing. Their existence is to be used to as weapons to attack or kill other people. The kicker is that you don't need to be close to a person at all to do what these were made for because they can hit anything from a long distance away depending on what you are using and that is part of the reason they are really dangerous."

"Hmmm…" Aria leveled an analytical stare at the gun. Kyle noticed Aria looking at the gun with a critical look and continued to speak saying, "This particular gun is referred to as a revolver, which means that it what it lacks in range, it makes up for having a fast fire rate and can do a lot of damage. But like every other gun, these weapons have a lot of problems when using them. One such problem is the fact that they need to be reloaded when you use every bullet in the gun."

He put the gun closer to his other hand to allow him to get all six bullets out. As soon as they were all in his hand, he spoke up saying, "These are what they call bullets and these allow the guns to inflict the damage they can do on others. Without these, a gun cannot really do much as it could if it had ammo." As Kyle finished saying that, he made sure Aria was able to see the bullets he was holding.

Aria reached out and grabbed one of the bullets, and began carefully looking it over. "Hmmm…" She then noticed the bottom of the bullet. "I take it this part on the bottom is necessary to propel the bullet?" Aria asked. Kyle responded to her question with, "Yes, you would be right. That bottom part is what propels the main part of the bullet to leave its shell or case as they call it. When that happens, that main part of the bullet gets sent out of what is referred to as the barrel of the gun at incredible speeds, which is why when that part hits something, it can a lot of damage to someone or something."

Aria analyzed the bullet a little more, before saying, "...And yet, some of your group had melee weapons, and even devices meant to enhance your punching ability...I'm assuming these guns are not so foolproof as to render such items obsolete…" Kyle responded with, "Yes, that is true. There are a few things you can do, like smack the enemy heading towards you with the gun, but sticking to that method will damage the weapon even more than just firing it."

Kyle continued on with saying, "Either way, there are times where the smarter decision is to use a melee weapon when the enemy just gets too close to you."

Aria nodded. "Like how I still have a lance or sword, even though I'm more proficient at using magic…" she compared. Kyle smirked a little before continuing on with, "Yeah, I think you get my point about why guns are not the end all solution…" He started taking a second to think about how to answer Aria's question about his armor, but the pain from the wound made sure to stop that thought real quick. "Hey Aria, as much as I want to continue talking, I think we really need to get moving…." Kyle said as his body started to get weaker.

"Right," Aria replied, nodding, before helping him to the medical tent. The two made their way into the medical tent and Aria made sure to help place Kyle onto one of the beds in the tent. After that, Kyle spoke up more time saying, "Thanks for the help. I think I'll be fine from here on, unless you want to stick around and learn the answers to those questions you got."

While Aria took a moment to decide, Kyle pulled up his right arm, making sure he could use his Pipboy. He navigated to his aid section on the device and selected a Stimpack to be taken out of storage. The stimpack appeared on his left hand, but just as he was going to use it, the pain from the wound made his hands shake a lot. This resulted in the stimpack falling onto the ground, just beyond Kyle's reach with the same hand.

Aria saw the Stimpack and picked it up off the ground, looking at Kyle with an inquisitive looked at Aria studying the stimpack, and got her attention by saying, "Aria, I hate to break your little investigation moment, but I really could use that right about now... "

"Oh, uhm, right…" Aria replied, walking over, before studying the stimpack a bit more, to figure out how to use it. Kyle spoke up once more saying, "I would ask you to hand it over so I could do it myself, but at this point with my still twitchy hands, you got to do it for me… I'll… make sure to explain how to do it correctly."

Kyle began telling Aria how to administer the stimpack, which turns out all that need to be done was to get the stimpack's needle in the wound and push the circular gage inward to release the healing chemicals into the body. After that, Aria pulled the empty stimpack out of the wound and after a few seconds passed, the wound was already beginning to clot and repair itself.

Kyle felt the Stimpack chemicals going throughout his body and he slowly began feeling less and less of the pain from the lance wound on his shoulder. He looked at Aria one more time, giving a rather small smile before saying, "Thanks again for helping me out Aria. You deserve a prize for that great first job of stimpak injection… how about you get pull that chair over there near me and take a seat?" as he pointed to with his left arm.

Aria nodded, and pulled a chair over, sitting down. Kyle reached for one of his pockets in his duster and pulled out a small bag. He opened it up and grabbed a special bottle cap and placed it in his left hand. He glanced over to where Aria was sitting and spoke up saying, "Quick, catch this!" while he flicked the bottle cap into the air in Aria's direction.

Aria managed to catch it, and began looking it over. It was a small metallic disk, indented inwards, with the sloped sides bent into various ridges. The most noticeable feature of it, however, was the light blue star on the inside that actually seemed to dimly glow.

"In case you are wondering, what I gave you is a bottlecap. It was meant to be used as a removable lid to a glass bottle, but where I am from; it is used as a form of currency. I would tell you more, but my throat is starting to hurt from talking too much. I'll just say that particular bottle cap is my way of paying you back for dealing with me." Kyle said as put the bottle cap bag back into the pocket.

Aria looked over the bottle cap curiously, before smiling and putting it into one of the pockets of her cloak. "Thank you," she stated, still smiling, "Rest up for now, I have to meet with Chrom…"

"Well, if you are heading off, that means I can finally do this." Kyle said as he adjusted himself in the bed and started to fall asleep. The last words that escaped his mouth before he fell asleep were "Catch you later, Aria…" With that done, Kyle was getting the sleep he really needed.

* * *

 **A couple of hours later...**

When Kyle woke up, he noticed two people around his bed. The one on the right was sitting on a nearby bed, and Kyle noticed that it was actually Leon. The other person was on his left side, sitting in the chair Aria left behind when she had to leave. As Kyle looked at the person on his left, he said, "So, I take it that you must be Travis right?" Travis quickly responded with a witty tone when he said, "No, I'm just his stunt double for the movie we are shooting right now."

Kyle laughed for a bit before extending his arm, responding with, "Yeah, when you see him, say that Kyle wants to talk to his agent." Travis followed up with a quick, "I will." as he made sure to shake Kyle's arm. After that handshake, the two made one last set of laughs, which got stopped by Leon when he spoke up saying, "If you two are done joking around, we got a few guests that just showed up to visit us." Travis and Kyle looked over to Leon, and he motioned them to turn their attentions to the guests that just arrived.

Kyle looked towards the people who came to see them and noticed that it only consisted of two people. The first person Kyle noticed was Aria, but when he looked over to the other guest, his mind got confused. The person was wearing a outfit that looked very similar to Chrom's outfit, except it was all just blue. Taking a moment to look at the person's face, Kyle noticed that the person was actually a female and that she had the same hair color as Chrom. Kyle was about to comment on what he was seeing, but Aria ended up speaking before he could.

"...Quite the gathering that's here…" Aria stated, "...Anyways, let me introduce Lucina, the newest member of our group...and Chrom's and Maribelle's daughter-from-the-future…"

As soon as Aria said those words, all three men just had looks of confusion on their faces. They unintentionally ended up asking the same question, which was, "Did you just say that she came from the future?", at the same time.

"Yes, that is the case…" Lucina spoke up. A few moments passed and all three men slowly went from a state of confusion to a state of acceptance. This change managed to get Aria to give them a weird look.

"...You're taking this rather well...I expected a bit more...disbelief…about Lucina's origins..." Aria stated.

Lucina added, "Yes, it took some convincing to convince even my father and mother of my identity…"

Leon took a moment to think about his memories, and responded with, "I think it's safe to say the amount of weird things that happen from where we come from has gotten us to take things as the way they are. Heck, I got abducted by aliens on some spaceship and became its captain after fighting off the crew."

Travis heard what Leon said and responded with, "Well, I didn't experience anything like that, but I did get involved with a 400 year old family that existed before the Great War that was using some serum made from the father they trapped in a mental asylum to stay young and be in great health."

Kyle looked at Leon and Travis with a rather devious smile before saying, "Wow, you two got some great tales, but I think mine is definitely the weirdest. To make a long story short, I got kidnapped and forced to work with a bunch of old senile brains in flying jars in a pre-war research facility. It eventually led to me finding my own brain, because said senile minds yanked out my brain and managed to lose it when I got there. As it turns out, the device holding my brain allowed it to talk. My brain had a very specific set of things to say about me that it wanted to say and it eventually lead to an argument between us because it was being a jerk. It all worked out in the end, but that experience was really unique. That's about it."

As Kyle finished his tale about his brain conversation, he noticed that everyone in the room was looking at him. He noticed that Travis and Leon were giving him a look that screamed, "What the heck did you just say?" As he turned his attention away from those two, he also saw that Aria and Lucina both looked confused towards them. If this were a pre-war movie when this scene happened, there would be some cricket noises that would have playing at that moment. But the people in the tent were not in some old movie, they were in reality.

Kyle quickly tried to clear the dead air and stares by saying, "Let's move on from that and just say weird things happen enough to squash any disbelief we could have. So...uh… Lucina, why are you here in the past?"

Lucina nodded. "Right...you see...how should I put this…" Then, Lucina went on to explain the circumstances of her dark future: her father Chrom was killed, and shortly afterwards, the Fell Dragon Grima rose. With Grima's return, the Shepherds, one by one, were killed off, until Lucina and the rest of the second generation were all that's left. With humanity all but extinct and Risen scattered across the land, Lucina and her friends had little choice but to travel back in time. "...Basically, my friends and I came back to potentially counter the events that would lead to Grima's rebirth...I don't know where the others are right now…"

The three male wastelanders made sure to process the information they just heard and actually talked amongst themselves for a little bit after Lucina's explanation. They stopped talking, and Kyle made sure to look at Lucina as he said, "Based on what you just told us, I think I can say for sure that the goal we had to find a way back home for my group will have to be put on hold because something tells me that won't happen if the world ends up like the future you came from. So, with this development, I can say that me and my group will make sure to help however we can to stop this Fell Dragon." As Kyle finished saying that, Travis and Leon also looked at Lucina, giving looks that can be best described as looks of agreement.

Lucina smiled. "I thank you for your aid."

Aria nodded. "Same. Now, I know you gave a basic rundown of how useful you were in a fight earlier, but, tomorrow, I would suggest we meet up, with everyone from your world present, to give a greater run-down of your capabilities. We're about to enter a major war, and if you're going to help us, it'd be beneficial if we knew all of what you could contribute… … ...if it's not asking too much, of course…"

"Well, if that needs to be done, consider it done." Kyle said as he slowly made his way off the bed he was on. When he got off the bed, he checked his right hand and noticed that the blood that was on it was cleaned off. He also noticed that his wound was bloodless as well and that it fully healed up thanks to the stimpack. Just as he was going to ask how the blood on him was removed, Travis spoke up saying, "I forgot to mention that when I got here, I noticed you were wounded and got the blood off you while you were sleeping. Sorry for not telling you earlier." Kyle just gave a quick thumbs up as his response when he looked at Travis.

Kyle switched his focus from Travis to Aria, and Kyle had one last question he wanted to ask. Kyle made sure to ask if there were any spare tents leftover for the new people that just joined today and Aria told him that they had plenty of tents to spare and that there were Shepherds willing to help set them up if they needed the help. Kyle flashed a big smile at Aria and told Travis and Leon to get up and to get ready to head out of the medical tent to go get the process started.

* * *

 **Some time later….**

The tents for the new members that joined were built in a relatively quick amount of time due to the cooperation between the two groups. The wastelanders got to know the name of every member of the Shepherds and vice versa. Eventually, the new arrivals were able to get into their respective tents and began sorting their belongings around the quarters they got. With each new arrival getting their belongings organized, they all decided to see who they ended up being next to. Little did they know that decision was going to jump start some odd relationships.

Veronica was pacing around her tent, thinking of a good hiding place to put the important stuff she had in her arms. The "important stuff" was five boxes of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, the same boxes from the Lucky 38 Suite back in the Mojave. She was able to sneak them with her by placing them inside hidden compartments in the metal armor that she made two days ago before the teleporter test.

As Veronica continued to pace around, she looked around the tent noticing the junk and tools she lazily placed around. There were at least small 10 piles of various computer and radio parts near a wooden table covered in hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and wonderglue on the left side of the tent. In the middle of the tent held the bed she was given, which had a small dresser in front of it. The dresser had a sledgehammer leaning against one of its sides and had a Power Fist and Displacer Glove on top next to each other. Then there was the right side of the tent, which had two chairs and a table for eating.

The former scribe was about to give up, but quickly thought of a good location. She went to the bed and placed the boxes on the bed. She immediately grabbed one of the pillows and slid the boxes to where the pillow was. Then she placed the pillow in front of them and made a mental note to not sleep on that side of the bed. Just as she got that task done, she realized that her tent was somewhat dark, because she didn't light any of the candles placed around the tent.

After getting the candles lit so she could see better, Veronica left her tent to go see if she could find someone to talk to. As she got out, she made her way to the center of the camp section she was in. This part of the camp was arranged in a circle and Veronica had her tent next to Leon and Cait. Leon's tent was on the left side and Cait's was on the opposite side.

Veronica was about to talk to Leon, but just before she could move, she saw Leon's other neighbor that was further to the left, head into his tent. She knew who it was and quickly changed direction to Cait's tent.

Veronica made sure to ask Cait if she wanted to talk before she got entered the tent. She heard Cait respond with saying she had time to talk. Veronica made her way inside and quickly scanned the tent and its contents, which safe to say, definitely had a lot of things inside.

If Veronica had anything to say about Cait, the first comment she would start with would be about how Cait has a strong passion for fighting other people. The reason why Veronica was thinking about that was answered by what she was seeing at the moment. The inside of the tent was covered in makeshift punching bags and dummies.

Most of them were broken in because of the weapons Cait was using on them. There was even one that was beaten in by Cait's fists and its current state was on the verge of breaking. Besides that, her tent had the same furniture that Veronica had in addition to a lot of bobby pins and screwdrivers on each table.

After looking around, Veronica saw Cait sitting on her bed removing the cloth padding wrapped around her hands. Cait removed the last pieces from her hands and spoke up saying, "So, what did you come by to talk about?"

Veronica responded back with, "I came by to ask some questions about you, because sooner or later, we are going to be working together again. So, why not get to know more about my teammates?"

Cait retorted with, "As much as I want to talk about myself, I expect you to compensate me by paying me back with any drinks you can find."

Veronica held back a little laugh before saying, "Yeah, just let me invent a distillery first before I get to that. Oh wait, I can't because we don't have any materials to build one. Besides, I would rather tell you my story before I go looting the camp for drinks."

Cait just shook her head in disappointment and said, "Fine, just make sure to answer my questions and pay me 100 caps."

Veronica responded with, "Make it 25 caps and I'll accept this deal."

Cait mentally kicked herself when she agreed to Veronica's counter offer and waited for Veronica to pull out the caps they agreed on. After that was done, the two female wastelanders began talking about themselves.

Cait explained a bit about herself first, which mainly involved the Combat Zone and Commonwealth Wasteland. She eventually talked about her pit fighting career, which is where she learned to fight and where she met Travis one day. She was in the middle of one of her matches when the raider audience that was watching started a big shootout. She found out that Travis found his way inside after hearing about the place and the raiders shot at him for trespassing on their turf.

What happened afterwards was a building full of dead raiders and an owner without clients. Her boss tried to chew Travis out for killing his clients, but he realised that could get Cait out of there. After some a small argument with disagreements between Cait and Travis, her boss convinced the two to leave that place and ever since that day, Travis became a close friend to Cait.

Veronica was intrigued by what Cait was saying, but just when Cait finished, Veronica had to start talking about herself. Veronica listed off several facts and details, which were mainly about the Mojave Wasteland and what she did for a living. She was the one in her "family" to go get supplies and tinker with any technological devices she found out in the Mojave. When she was out, one of the safe locations in the Mojave she went to a lot was a trading post south of New Vegas. Then one day, Veronica was about to head back to what she called "home" when an odd man met her at that trading post.

The odd man was asking for directions to New Vegas, and Veronica told him the directions he was looking for. Just as he was about to leave, Veronica felt like she just had to talk to this guy for a bit longer. She got his attention by asking for his name, backstory, and reason for why he was going to New Vegas. The man responded with his name, which turned out to be Kyle Sevon.

He explained his story and Veronica again felt something, this time telling her that this guy was going to need some company. Eventually, Veronica and Kyle agreed to travel together till Kyle finished his business in New Vegas. After explaining that last part, Veronica finished her tale of how she met Kyle.

Cait responded back with one question, which was, "You said you got a family and based on the look you had when you described them, you don't seem to like them very much. Why is that?"

Veronica hesitated a bit before answering with, "I… I don't want to answer that question right now…I'll tell you about it another time."

Cait ended up speaking up in a annoyed tone saying, "Can't you just give me a hint about what you plan to tell me later?"

Veronica quickly spoke back saying, "I got to get going, but I will say that it has to do with the Brotherhood of Steel. Otherwise, I'm not saying anything else." With that said, Veronica muttered a quick "Thanks for the chat" and left Cait to go back to her own tent.

Cait ended up with a lot of questions in her thoughts, but she had to wait for Veronica to be ready to talk about them. Cait thought that the Brotherhood was only in the Commonwealth, but with she heard from Veronica, that was not really true anymore.

* * *

Leon was in his personal tent looking around at what he made into his living space. The first thing to mention was there were a lot of junk placed around his tent. There were small piles made of motorcycle parts, lawnmower blades, and pilot lights near a wooden table to the right of his bed. On the other side the bed away from the desk, there were plenty of small boxes of Pre-war food mixed in with various bottles of Nuka-Cola and Quantum.

The rest of the tent, which is more or less in front of the bed, had another table and a chair meant for eating any meals taken to the tent. Otherwise, there were candles carefully placed around to allow light inside the tent.

Just as Leon was about ready to leave his tent, he heard someone enter his tent. Leon took a moment to make sure to see who it was and immediately afterwards wished that he could run away. The person who just showed up in his vision was Henry, still smiling. Leon tried to keep his thoughts to himself when he ended up saying, "Hey Henry, what brings you over to my humble abode...?", that ended with a hint of worry.

"Oh, just wanting to see my new neighbor!" the Dark Mage replied. Leon decided to keep Henry talking to speed this visit along by saying, "Well, I guess that means we get a lot of opportunities to get to know each other...and I did promise to tell you that story about my "querk"..."

"Oh, yeah! I'm wondering how you originally got it! Ooooo! Maybe I can replicate the results…" Henry replied. Leon just quickly shakes his head before saying, "I hate this saying out loud, but I don't think that is going to happen. I don't even know how I got it and even if it could be replicated."

Before Henry could even respond, Leon started explaining that the "One day". He told Henry about the raiders that were trying to kill him and how one of them charged Leon. He followed up with how that one raider had all his limbs got turned into chunks and the pain filled scream as the raider fell to the ground. Leon ended the story with the mercy shot for the suffering raider and that it continued to happen to this day. Leon braced himself for whatever Henry had to say after hearing all of that.

"...Well, that was incredible. Must have been a lot of blood! Wish I was there!" the Dark Mage stated, "How often does stuff like that happen where you come from?"

Leon thought out his answer carefully by responding with, "To be honest, that does not really happen a lot from where I come from. Most of the time, if someone ended up dead, their bodies were relatively intact save for the little bit of damage from where they get hit. The other times, they are just usually only missing one limb or body part."

"Oh...still, it sounds like there's a LOT of people that need putting down! If I could find a way there, I bet there's a LOT of brigand blood I could spill there…" Henry cheerfully replied.

"As much as there are some pretty bad people from where I come from that deserve to die, If you ever found your way there, I would consider it to be a fate worse than death by my hands for them given what you just said." Leon said, trying to stop Henry from attempting to find his way to the Capital Wasteland.

"Aw well...Plenty of brigands and Risen here that need to be put in there place around here, anyways...although I wonder how brigands from your home would react to Curses…" Henry then began musing about the various curses he could cast on the Capital Wasteland Raiders.

"Listen Henry, I need…. to get going… somewhere else because I….I got a meeting I need to attend. How about you tell me more about those curses for another day?" Leon tried to say, failing to avoid getting nervous.

"...Alright...maybe we can talk about it later...See you then, neighbor!" And with that, Henry walked off, before Leon could reply. Leon made sure to rub his eyes be sure that he wasn't dreaming. Thankfully for him, he was not dreaming at all. After taking a moment to peek out his tent entrance to see if Henry was still around, which he was not, Leon booked it out of his tent and went towards Kyle's tent to talk to someone more relativity sane.

* * *

After getting his tent set up, Kyle was on his way looking for Aria because he wanted to ask a few questions about her combat experience. He eventually found the tent that was Aria's and made sure to say something before he went in. Kyle said, "Hey Aria, do you have a minute to talk? I want to ask some questions about your fighting style…", as he waited for a response.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I have some time," came the reply. Kyle took her response as a sign to head inside the tent and began thinking about the questions he had. Unfortunately for Kyle, his attention shifted to the objects inside the tent. Much like the makeshift tent from several hours ago, there were at least double, no not double, triple the amount of books stacked around the tent with text on tactics. There was even a side of the tent dedicated to the map of wherever they were at the moment. Kyle quickly gathered his attention and made sure to look for Aria, which it turns out was sitting on a chair on the other side of the table reading some book.

Kyle faked a cough to get Aria's attention and when she shifted her focus from her book to Kyle, he asked, "Do you spend every moment when there is no battle going on reading books on tactics?, because it seems to me you should be training for combat instead."

"I do sometimes train," Aria replied, putting the book down, "But...I also want to learn as much about tactics and strategy as I can...ever since Chrom found me in a field 2 years ago, it's been my job to see the Shepherds through every battle, planning out the battles so we all survive...and I've done...fairly well in that regard. So far, no Shepherd has died on my watch...and I'll be damned before one does…"

Kyle just took in what she said and made a quick whistle when he said, "That sounds very taxing, especially for anyone in your position. I think you need to relax a bit more before the stress gets really bad and possibly harms us in whatever we need to face later."

"Oh, I do try and rest when I can, though. A lady needs her beauty sleep, after all," Aria replied with a small smile. Kyle ended up giving a questionable look when he said, "Yeah…beauty sleep is important all right..."

"...What is it?" Aria asked, catching Kyle's look.

"It's nothing important, it's just a thought I had about you... you care about your beauty while not really acting ladylike at all, at least to me." Kyle nervously responded back with.

"Excuse me?!" Aria growled, sounding slightly angrier than she should have.

Kyle started feeling his nerves getting weaker as he said, "No, I meant to say that… a lady like you can do all of this planning and organization and be able to fight… But they really shouldn't cause" ladies" can't…usually handle fights…Oh man that came out wrong..."

"My goodness, Kyle. You have this great leadership in your group, but you can't maintain manners. Do you even have schools dedicated to teach that?" Aria snapped at him.

Kyle decided to answer honestly saying, "No, we don't have those back where I am from. I learned manners from my parents back when I was younger... And they made sure to hammer it in for me."

"Well, perhaps you should take time to remember those lessons, especially on how to talk with a lady." Aria said.

"The thing is that the image I have for a "lady" is someone who looks pretty and proper and all of that kind of stuff. But when I look at you, I don't see anything that could be used to say that you are a "lady"... if you get what I mean... And what do you plan do with that rock...?"

"Just like Chrom…" Aria muttered under her breath, before picking up the book she was reading before. She then said aloud, "Maybe a sharp blow to the head might help fix your eyesight."

"No, wait… it's just a gag that I was doing… it was funny… wasn't it…actually I need to go talk... to... Veronica...uh...Got to get moving." Kyle said as the last of his nerves failed him. As soon as he was done saying that, he sprinted out of Aria's tent in a heartbeat, hoping to put enough distance to get away.

Meanwhile, Aria was left irritated at what happened. "And just like Chrom, he fled...This is the SECOND time something like this happened… … ...I need some air…"

* * *

As Leon made his way to Kyle's tent, he heard a lot of noise that sounded like it was getting closer to him. Taking a moment to look around, Leon saw Kyle sprinting towards his own tent. The look on his face was mostly a mixed of being tired and worried about whatever he did earlier that day. Leon actually got curious from this sight and made sure to attempt to grab Kyle to get him to stop.

Unfortunately, Leon ended up causing Kyle to trip and land on his knees and hands. After a second passed, Kyle bolted up and tried to run again, but Leon made sure to grab his arm and kept him from moving. Kyle was still acting a bit odd, which leads to Leon giving a quick slap to Kyle's face to try to snap him out of it.

The pain from the slap got Kyle to regain his senses and stop trying to run. Leon spoke up saying, "Kyle, why were you running like that?" hoping that Kyle would answer him. Kyle ended up not answering straight away due to being out of breath, but he did eventually say, "I… I was running away from Aria. I managed to get her mad enough to make her think of bludgeoning my head with a rock she picked off the ground. I… I bolted out of her tent as fast as I could… I thought she was going to chase me down." As he finished saying that, his eyes darted around looking for out for Aria.

Leon decided that he needed Kyle to calm down and elaborate more about what he was talking about and spoke up saying, "Kyle, I think you need to take a seat and start over from square one. So stop panicking and let me bring you into your tent so you can sit down." as he dragged Kyle towards his tent.

The Lone Wanderer and Courier made their slow way inside the tent. Kyle's tent was more or less the same as Leon's tent, but there was still some differences between the two. For one, Kyle had at least 15 piles consisting of wrenches, scrap metal, wonderglue, duct tape, and scrap electronics. There were also at least 7 small piles made up of forceps, medical braces, scalpels, and surgical tubing. All of those piles lined up on the right side of the tent.

Then there was the table on the left side of the tent, which was currently holding up at least 50 magazines spread around it on one half of the table. The rest was devoted to showing off the large collection of sarsaparilla soda on said table. Other than that, there were two chairs next to the table as well.

That was all Leon cared to note when he looked around while getting Kyle to his bed. He eventually made his way to the left side of the bed and dropped Kyle onto it. Kyle still had that look of worry on his face, but he eventually pulled himself together. While Kyle did that, Leon pulled out the nearest chair and turned it around so he could rest his arms on the back part of the chair.

Leon continued to sit like that as he asked Kyle to explain what happened. Kyle told Leon the whole story involving him and Aria earlier this day. When Kyle finished his explanation, Leon only had one response to give. The response was, "Dude, what you just experienced is the reason why you never say what just pops inside your mind at the moment without thinking it over. Just...just make sure you don't do that ever again to Aria, or… actually I'm not going to finish that sentence."

As he finished saying that, Leon realized what he just said and implied. He quickly followed up with, "Look Kyle, the important thing to take from this is to make sure to apologize for your lack of thinking out your words." Just after that, Leon noticed Kyle had a look on his face that said he understood what Leon was saying.

There was still a bit of dead air between the two until Kyle asked what Leon was doing before they bumped into each other. Leon answered his question while also including the part about Henry. Kyle was going to ask more about that, but Leon looked like he didn't to talk about it just yet. Thinking of changing the topic, Kyle asked Leon, "How old are you?" as a way to get him to talk about something else. Leon responded with, "I'm 29 years old." Kyle gave an odd look after hearing Leon's age and spoke up saying, "Wow, I thought you were a bit younger than me. I'm at the grand age of 27 in case you were wondering."

The two continued to talk about themselves and where they came from. Leon learned that Kyle was born in California and lived there till he turned 20 before he got the job as a courier in the Mojave region. During that time, Kyle was living with his family, which consisted only of himself and his parents. They lived in a small town located near one of the big cities under the control of the NCR. There was a name for that town, but Kyle ended forgetting what it was called.

Besides that, the Sevon family was a family of mechanics that were able to fix just about anything given enough time and resources. This skill allowed the Sevons to make a good living, but it resulted in Kyle's parents encouraging their son to pursuit what he wanted to do in life. This encouragement lead to Kyle becoming a courier in California for a while till he got the Mojave job, which is around the time he last saw his parents before he left for the Mojave.

Just as Kyle finished explaining a bit about his past, Leon began his story. Leon talked about the vault he grew up in till he was 18 and avoided saying why he left at that age. Then he talked about the Capital Wasteland and how one small town called Megaton became his new home.

After that, Leon spent the last 11 years wandering around the Capital Wasteland as a mercenary. Leon made sure to say that he only did jobs and tasks that he approved of doing, which did limit his opportunities, but he was still able to make life in the Capital Wasteland a bit better each day. Leon ended his story after that, but made sure to say that there was more to talk about for later.

Kyle eventually got up from his bed and told Leon that he was going to go talk to Travis. But just before he left, Kyle spoke up saying, "Hey Leon, make sure to be ready to for tomorrow because everyone in our little group needs to meet up for something important." After he said that, Kyle left his tent, leaving Leon behind. Leon was about to leave when he suddenly remembered that he didn't see Dogmeat since his tent got finished being set up. As he left the tent, Leon made sure to look around the camp for his dog, hoping that Dogmeat was not getting into any trouble.

* * *

Travis was inside his tent organizing the junk he had on him. Unlike his fellow Wastelanders, Travis was a true scavenger of the wastelands. If there were something that was not nailed down, it would have been taken and made into something useful. The tent's contents showed that statement to be true, because it literally had almost everything. There were bundles of tools, small furniture, electronics, dinnerware, mechanical parts, cleaning supplies, natural and artificial resources, and so on.

This massive spread out pile of junk took up every corner in the tent and some bunches got as high as two feet in the air. While this did leave less living space for Travis, it made him get inspired to work with what he had. Using every tool he had, Travis was able to make his own version of a utility workbench to begin his resource processing. With that done, the first goal was to make a weapon workbench to modify and scrap any extra or broken weapons in the future.

But that goal had to wait, because Travis heard Kyle's voice just beyond the entrance to the tent say, "Hey Travis, you got a minute to talk?" Travis responded back with, "Yeah I can talk. Just make sure to watch your step when you get in here." as he continued working on what he was doing at the moment.

Kyle entered the tent and noticed the rather large collection of junk littered around the living space. It did take up a lot of space, but then Kyle noticed that the bed was right next to the table and chairs that were put in every tent. The table was holding cans of purified water and slabs of meat that looked odd. But just as Kyle smelled the air, he knew that the meats came from the wasteland because of their stench. After trying to ignore said stench, Kyle noticed that Travis was sitting in the middle of the tent just beyond his bed. Travis was stirring something in a metal cooker that was placed over a small fire.

Travis continued what he was doing as he looked up to see Kyle staring at him. He spoke up saying, "In case you were wondering, I'm trying to get these meats I have cooked up to make them taste better. It takes ten minutes for me to get this done, so while I do this, you can ask any questions you want till then." Kyle looked around for a place to sit, but ended up just sitting on the ground on the opposite side of Travis.

The first question Kyle asked Travis was about where he was from. Travis explained that he was from Boston, otherwise known as the Commonwealth Wasteland. He also mentioned that he was in a vault for some time, but didn't go into any more details. Kyle decided to not continue with that question and instead asked about what Travis was cooking.

It turns out Travis was cooking Brahmin meat in the cooker. And just before Kyle could ask, Travis said that his cooking skills were very great, mainly due to the fact that he found a way to remove the radiation from the meat. Unfortunately, Travis still had trouble making said cooked meals actually taste good.

Kyle made sure to note that skill for later and while he did that, Travis actually stopped stirring the meat in the cooker and pulled out the ladle he was using to do a quick taste test. The look on his face when he actually tasted it was all the proof Kyle needed.

After that, Travis put the ladle back in and continued stirring the meat. Kyle took a second to think before saying, "Hey Travis, I know this is going to sound weird, but I have to ask this question due to this feeling I have in my gut."

Travis took his eyes off the cooker and said, "What is it?"

Kyle responded back with, "Whenever I look at you, I don't get any "vibes" coming from you…What I mean is that a lot of people I meet have "vibes" that tell me if they are good or bad. Yet… I don't get any from you... So, I hate to act paranoid, but are you a good enough person that everyone here can trust?"

Travis took a moment to answer, but when he did, his response was, "I can answer your question, but I need to know if you want the short version or really long version." Kyle responded back with saying he would be fine with the short version for now.

Travis heard what Kyle said and retorted, "In the commonwealth, I am known as the one man that that did the impossible. I was able to build up settlements that were doing so well, that they banded together to make the region safer than it was in the past. In fact, it was doing well enough for people to start making a local government to ensure that life in the commonwealth continues to improve. I'll leave it at that for now."

Kyle didn't want to say anything after that and began getting up off the ground. But just before he started heading out of the tent, Kyle made sure to tell Travis about the meeting that was planned for tomorrow and to spread the word among their small group. After that, Kyle left the tent to head back to his own, to get ready for tomorrow.

* * *

A minute or two passed after Kyle left, and in that span of time, Travis was cooking a new batch of meat in his cooker. He decided to go with the Radstag meat this time, hoping that it would end up tasting better than the Brahmin meat. As he continued to stir the meat, he heard someone or something just beyond the entrance to his tent make a bunch of noise. From what Travis could tell, it sounded like a animal. But just before he started to get up, the creature entered his tent.

The creature ended up being the canine companion of Leon, who was sniffing the air with his nose looking for something. It didn't take long for Travis to realize that the dog was in here because of the stench of meats coming from his tent.

As the dog made his way closer to the cooker, Travis remembered the name of this dog and said, "Something tells me you can in here because you want something to eat. Am I right, Dogmeat?" Dogmeat responded back with a bark and quick wag of his tail as a way to say yes.

Travis made sure to get up after that to grab the cooked Brahmin steak he placed on the table near him. After grabbing it, he brought it over to Dogmeat and told the canine to eat up before placing it on the ground next to the dog. Dogmeat began eating the meat while Travis got back to stirring the meat in the cooker.

A few minutes passed, and just as Travis was about to think about asking Dogmeat where his owner was, the man himself showed up. Leon spotted Dogmeat as he can in and said, "So this is where you ended up. It figures a dog like you really loves any chance to score a free meal."

Travis responded back for Dogmeat saying, "To be honest, Dogmeat over here was just following the scent of the meats coming from my tent. I just decided to be nice and give him something for his troubles."

Leon noted that as he sat down next to his dog and asked what Travis was doing. Travis gave Leon the rundown of what he was doing. After saying that, Travis remembered that question he was going to ask Leon back when they first met each other. The question Travis asked was, "Hey Leon, why is your dog called Dogmeat?"

Leon responded to the question with, "I gave the dog the name Dogmeat because it felt like the name to give him. Why do you ask?"

Travis thought out his response before he said, "I asked because the weird thing I noticed with that particular name. I… I have a dog back from where I come from with that same name actually, except his breed is different than your dog's breed."

Leon heard what he said and didn't say anything. Travis continued with saying, "Something tells me that this is a really odd coincidence that we happen to own dogs that have the same name, or is there is a family line of dogs named Dogmeat in the American Wasteland that goes back a long time?"

After Travis made that last comment, Leon spoke up saying, "It's not a coincidence, because I'm sure what you just said may explain some things..."

Travis followed with, "And why do you think that, Leon?"

"That the "Dogmeat" you have may be a descendant of that family line you mentioned earlier. I say that because the "Dogmeat" right next to me is actually the son of the dog I met back where I come from in the past. Long story short, my first dog died not so long ago, but a little bit later after he passed, a pup showed up one day in front of my house and I took him in."

Travis responded with, "So, what is the point you are trying to make?"

Leon retorted with, "The point is that the pup grew up to be the dog you see right next to me and he looks exactly like his father. This can also be used to say that Dogmeat Sr. had more pups that I didn't know about and said pups continued the line as time went on. So, it may be possible that your "Dogmeat" is another step in that family line..."

Leon finished talking after saying that and the air between the two men just became dead air as they waited for the other to say something.

Leon decided to break the silence by saying that he wanted Travis to answer a question he had. Travis said that he was fine with answering it, but just as Leon began elaborating on the reason why he was asking, Travis caught on to what it was.

The question Leon had was about Travis' sense of morality and the reason he gave for asking was basically the same Kyle had before Leon showed up. Travis waited for Leon to finish before he got up and said in a annoyed tone, "Look, I just told Kyle the answer you are looking for and I don't want to repeat myself. So, if you want to know, talk to Kyle."

Leon decided to not say anything else after hearing that and motioned Dogmeat to follow him as he left the tent. When the two left, Travis took a deep breath and sat back down to continue stirring the meat. He eventually pulled the ladle out to get a quick taste test and immediately spat out what he tasted. Much like the Brahmin meat from before, the meat he was cooking still tasted terrible. Travis quickly thought to himself that it was due to karma messing with him, but he decided that he just needed to add something to make it taste better.

Eventually, the camp became quiet as everyone made their way into their own tent. They all needed to rest to be ready to deal with whatever needed to be done tomorrow.

End Chapter 6

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Seriously, where did he go? He's been gone for a while…."**

 **IceBite: *starts swinging in from the distance* "...Sling us a web, you're the Spider-Man! Sling us a web tonight! 'Cause we all SURE COULD USE US A HERO NOW! AND WE THINK THAT YOU'LL DO ALRIGHT!" *flips and lands on the platform***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *stares at Ice* "What are you doing?"**

 **IceBite: *shrugs* "Enjoying my new Spidey Powers…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *continues staring at Ice* "And while you did that, you forgot that I was making you a lightsaber that I wanted you to test." *shows lightsaber in hand* "Well, since you wasted my time by taking those power on a joyride, I'm going to hold onto this."**

 **IceBite: *shrugs* "Well, you mainly did it to show me it can be made, and I already got my own. Only fair you get your own…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Yeah… *stores lightsaber for later* "So, on a different note, anything you want to say about this chapter?"**

 **IceBite: "Well-" *Portal opens above IceBite's head* "Dafuq?" *Aria (plus Aria's Pegasus), Chrom, and Maribelle (plus Maribelle's horse) fall from the portal and land on IceBite* "... … ...Ow…"**

 **Aria: "Huh? What happened?"**

 **Maribelle: "Indeed, where are we?"**

 **Chrom: *shrugs* "I don't know, honestly."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *notices the people on his co-writer* "Why are you-' *A different portal opens above. Mark, Kyle, Leon, and Veronica fall from the portal landing on Mark. No response comes out from him.***

 **Kyle: "Why are we here now?"**

 **Veronica: "And who did we land on?"**

 **Leon: *looks at Chrom, Aria, and Maribelle* "Do either of you know where we are?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *recovers from being knocked out says, "Can you people please get off me before I lose consciousness again? *Kyle, Leon, and Veronica get off Mark. Mark stands back up, pulls out a device from his pocket and hits the big button on it.**

 ***Entire room gets filled with knockout gas, everyone else but Mark and Ice gets knocked out.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *heads over to Ice and helps Ice to his feet* "You okay, man?"**

 **IceBite: "...Ow...you try having not just three people, but also a HORSE and a PEGASUS fall on you, and see if YOU'RE ok…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Look, I'll make sure that you are okay later. Because right now, we got at least 6 people and 2 animals in this place from our story in this room to deal with… *Collapses to the floor after saying that saying in a pain filled tone, "Well, thank you folks for reading… OW… this chapter. We will come back after we figure out… OW… how this freak event happened.***

 ***Screen cuts to a screen saying, "We will be back later."**

 **End Author's Notes**

* * *

 _ **Important Notice**_

 _ **Hello, this notice was placed here for a reason. The reason being that due to scheduling conflicts, any future chapters from here on out will take a longer amount of time to make and upload. Just know that we will continue to work on this fic, but expect a long gap of time between the chapters we release.**_

 _ **(Also, Chapter 1-5 will be edited for any mistakes or concerns that affect the reading experience shortly after this chapter is uploaded.)**_

* * *

 _ **Edit Log (Version 2.0): Added some minor changes**_


	7. Chapter 7: Identity Blunder

***AND NOW, OUR AUTHOR'S NOTE CONTINUATION***

 ***2 Hours later***

 ***IceBite, the GotM Characters and FFNA Characters are eating small amounts food from Chick-Fil-A***

 ***MarkMartinMagma drives back into the room, this time with 2 boxes of small sized pizza tied to the Motorcycle***

 **MarkMartinMagma:*Notices the rather large crowd in the room,* "Uhhhh… What did I miss when I was gone…?"**

 **IceBite: "The guys from Fire Fallout: Nuclear Awakening arrived early, so I got a little Chick-Fil-A to stave off any hunger until you got back…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Counts out the number of people in the room and checks the number of pizza boxes he has. Realizes that he needs to get more* "Well... great. I need to go get more pizza." *Raises his voice as he says, "Is there any requests for the toppings for the next batch of pizzas?"**

 **IceBite: *after briefly explaining common Pizza toppings to the others* "I like Pineapple, Sausage (Not Spicy), Ham, Bacon, Beef, and Pepperoni…"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "Same."**

 **Amaris: "I'll try that…"**

 **Chrom: "Pepperoni, Ham, Bacon, Beef, and Sausage for me."**

 **Maribelle: "Is it possible to order white sauce?"**

 **Aria: "Same here."**

 **Leon: "Make sure to not put anything on mine."**

 **Kyle: "I'll order Anchovies"**

 **Veronica: "Just put me down for Pepperoni… and can you get a Sunset Sarsaparilla as well?"**

 **Trevor: "Just get me cheese and nothing else"**

 **Mark Zhots: "My order is Pepperoni and Spicy Sausage"**

 ***Mark jots down the 11 orders on a piece of paper, while also making sure to include Veronica's request for Sunset Sarsaparilla. Turns his motorcycle and speeds off after saying, "Okay, I'll be on the double to get what you folks want. I'll be back in 15 minutes."***

 ***14 minutes pass, and Mark is still not back yet.***

 **IceBite: "Zoggin' 'ell..you know what?" *Slings a web and grabs the remote* "Let's-"**

 ***Before Ice could finish talking, Mark is seen driving into the room on his motorcycle. Unfortunately, the bike was going so fast, the bike and Mark started going into the air.***

 ***The motorcycle starts doing a few flips, which cause the boxes of pizzas to get flung around in many directions.***

 **IceBite: *Rapidly slings webs to make a safety net for Mark and to catch the pizzas***

 ***The safety net of webs catches the pizzas and Mark, but not the bike. The motorcycle breaks through the web in its path before it lands on the ground. It continues driving away for a few more seconds before it explodes into a million pieces.***

 ***Everyone in the room stares at Mark***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Sorry about that… I forgot that I took a RTE bike instead of the non-RTE version."**

 **IceBite: "... … ...RTE?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Nonchalantly responds with, "RTE stands for "Ready to Explode" in case you didn't know."***

 **IceBite: "...Oh...ok… … ...** _ **WHY?!**_ **"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Because the people I bought it from said it was a special feature for the bikes they make…"**

 **IceBite: "...What kind?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "T5 Hurley Motorcycles, the ones used by the…uh… I forgot their name already."**

 ***Mark tries to get out of the webs, but fails to get out***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Can I get some help getting out of this, please?"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *sighs, walks over and cuts away the web with the Caliblack Blade***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Thanks… Now… *Grabs the boxes of pizza off the web and pass them out as he says, "Everyone dig in!"**

 ***End camera footage. Chapter 7 loads up…***

 **End Author's Note**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Identity Blunder**

 **The next day…**

The sun was rising over the camp, bringing light to the land. There were sounds of people waking up or complaining about not getting any sleep throughout the camp grounds. Either way, everyone found their way to the mess hall tent to get their first meal of the day.

The crowded tent was filled with Shepherds and Wastelanders eating the meal they got. Surprisingly, the Wastelanders decided to group up at one table till they got use to the rather different lifestyle of a Shepherd. Kyle, Travis, and Leon made sure to tell their respective partners about the important meeting with Aria that was planned for today. The meeting that allowed each Wastelander to go into more details about their specific skills and talents, in and off the battlefield.

But they were not going to worry about that at the moment. Instead, they were focusing on the rather decent meal they all got. Apparently, Sumia was the one making the food for this morning was and they were a decent cook. The food itself tasted way better than whatever they had to eat in the wasteland. Kyle made sure to note that for later as he was eating his meal.

* * *

 **An hour or two later…**

The Wastelanders finished their business in the mess hall and made their way to Aria's tent. They all waited outside till Aria showed up. It took a few minutes, (since they were among the first to finish their food before leaving the mess hall.) but Aria did show up as promised. The tactician invited the group into the tent and started the meeting.

Unlike the basic rundown that they gave yesterday, Aria insisted that the Wastelanders mention any talent or skill they have if it has any value in war. Little did she know that each one were more than just experienced fighters.

The first one to start was Leon. He gave off a rather short list of skills, which mainly focused on being able to make weapons out of anything and some experience in using medicine he referred to as "chems" to help when he had to deal with wounds or injuries. Otherwise, he also said that he was experienced in fighting enemies somewhat far away from him.

Up next was Veronica, who started rambling about the various electronic information she knows by heart until she remembered the "technology" advancements around the Shepherd camp. They were nowhere near anything she was talking about. Instead, she said that she was an expert in anything involving science and items that could be built with a proper tool kit. She also quickly added that she was well versed in close quarters combat and was willing to teach anyone how to defend themselves with or without a weapon.

Travis spoke up after Veronica finished talking, saying that he was part of a army where he was assigned a squad's medic and mechanic. When Aria questioned Travis about this detail, he made sure to say that he didn't want to say anymore because it leads to painful memories. Aria took the hint and didn't try to dig for more information.

Travis refocused his thoughts and noted that he was creative, which meant he was able to modify any weapon or armor to be more effect using common materials. The last thing he said was that when he was not acting as support, he preferred to stay back and pick the enemy off one by one with his rifles.

There was a bit of dead air after Travis got done talking, and Cait was the first one to break the silence. She asked her fellow Wastelanders how well they know to open up locks. Leon and Kyle said they were decent while Veronica said she was terrible at lockpicking. Travis responded with saying he was somewhat great at lockpicking if he didn't break at least 1 or 2 bobby pins for each lock he worked on. Cait looked around and made a rather bold claim that she was the best lockpicker of the group due to how she could effectively open any tough lock in a few seconds.

The last skill she was bragging about was her versatility in weapon combat. She listed off a long list of weapons she had experience using, which she could have easily summed up as anything within arm's reach. It was safe to say she knew how to use anything ranging from swords to axes to hammers to anything blunt, sharp or pointy.

Kyle was the last one to talk about his skills. Much like Veronica, he was skilled in making objects or items, but Kyle went one step further. He made a rather odd claim that anything that need to be repaired, be it armor or weapon, can be fixed with anything similar to it with his hands. He doesn't know why he can do that, but it probably had to do something with his family. Besides that, his skill as a cook was mentioned, with Veronica backing it up by saying Kyle just knows how to make anything that sounds disgusting actually taste good.

That was going to be the last thing he mentioned before he quickly added that he had something called "magazines" back in his tent that could be used to teach anyone anything covered in said magazine. Oh, and that he preferred fighting anyone up close based on the weapons he had.

Aria was just about to call the meeting over when Dogmeat barked and got everyone's attention. Leon quickly noted that they forgot Dogmeat entirely and quickly gave his comment on how much that dog was a fighter. He also noted Dogmeat could be used as emotional and mental support for those around camp.

With that, Aria asked if there was anything else anyone wanted to add. Nothing came to mind between the Wastelanders and they got dismissed. They all left, but Kyle was the last one to leave. He quickly said, "Aria, I'm sorry for the rather poor choice of words I used yesterday. I promise that won't happen again." before he left Aria's tent.

With the meeting finished, Aria looked over what was recorded from each individual, and what they could do. Each of them seemed to have some kind of skill in maintenance or similar. Furthermore, their technology was certainly intriguing.

As for combat skills, Leon seemed comparable to an archer or sniper, although Aria would have to ask him to explain what those 'chems' he had did. Veronica was most certainly like the Shepherds' Knights, although rather than a lance, she seemed to prefer that augmented gauntlet of her's. Travis seemed like a combination of a Cleric and an Archer, with his medical expertise and preference for long-range combat.

Cait...it would be somewhat easy to categorize her as a Thief: her capabilities with melee weapons compared with her ability at lockpicking made that an effective combination for her (realistically speaking, however, she could be quite a few classes). Then was Leon's dog, Dogmeat, who was...plainly, an attack dog, when it came to combat… … ...an attack dog that can take down fully armored and armed Risen knights...yeah, no way Aria was underestimating Dogmeat anytime soon. Kyle, finally, was most like a Mercenary that used close-ranged ranged weapons.

As Aria organized them, she immediately got to work reworking the many tactics she already had for the Shepherds in order to account for the new members...although once in a while, her thoughts seemed drawn back to a certain Courier… … …

* * *

 **A few days later…**

With the recent arrival of Lucina, the band of Shepherds and Wastelanders changed their focus for the time being. The goal was to locate the displaced friends, which Lucina said there should at least be 12 of them somewhere around the world.

After getting the camp packed up and ready for transport, the massive group began the rather long painstaking search by starting with searching one of the smaller islands on the map that supposedly showcased the world.

As it turns out, the island they went to first a village was facing a problem with rogues picking on the villagers. And to add more complications, apparently the ringleader was claiming himself to be Chrom, based on the information the villagers gave. They were last seen heading up north of the village and our group decided to deal with them.

When they made their way up north to a set of abandoned pillars and stone architecture in a massive area of stone surrounded by a forest, they found a particularly odd person. The person in detail was a young teenage girl in knight armor riding a Pegasus. She actually flew close to the group and demand that they surrender under the name of her lord, presumably the fake "Chrom".

Naturally, the real Chrom gave an order to not surrender and this prompted the female Pegasus rider to flee to catch up with reinforcements further up north. What followed suit was the group getting ready for battle, with Aria giving orders on who goes where and who goes with who.

The pairs were mostly the same as the last battle, except Henry was paired with Cordelia, Cherche was paired with Virion, Lissa was paired with Frederick, Cait was ordered to work with Travis, Veronica was acting as Leon's partner and that was about it.

There were two sets of stone pillars to the northeast and northwest of their army, which were more than likely being used as cover to hide by the enemy. With that in mind, Aria decided to split the army to tackle the east and west side. Leon, Veronica, Cait, and Travis were assigned to take the east, with Chrom, Maribelle, Aria, Kyle, Sumia, and Gaius heading for the west. Everyone else either went east or west accordingly with their partner for the battle.

* * *

The battle started as soon as each side began moving their way up north. Leon and Veronica were among the first of the east half to get into battle against the enemy.

Instead of Risen, they were fighting against a trio of brigands armed with a sword, bow, and axe. Veronica took care of the melee ranged fighters by blocking their attacks with her power fist and counterattacking with a strong hit to both of their heads. Leon on the other hand, was firing at the archer with his assault rifle while trying to dodge the arrows aimed at him. A few bullets managed to hit the archer in his left leg and arm, along with his torso. The archer shortly collapsed forward onto the earth, dead from his wounds.

The duo made sure to remember where these slain brigands were before heading off to continue fighting.

* * *

While the Lone Wanderer and former scribe went their own way, Travis and Cait continued moving up north, except they tried to sneak around using the trees east of the ruined pillars. It was working at the time, and the commonwealth duo spotted something happening in the distance.

From what Travis was seeing, (using his scope on his laser musket) there was a man running through a somewhat small forest. As Travis tracked him, the man found a small two person group on horses travelling through the same forest. Despite not being close to hear whatever they could be saying, the lone man was talking pretty fast and he ran off shortly after he stopped talking.

The two horse riders pulled out their weapons and it appeared that they were ready to fight as if they were ordered to. Travis made sure to relay what he saw to Cait and the duo came up with a quick plan.

Travis started off by cranking the laser musket multiple times, which made the area beneath the glass part of the musket start glowing red. With his shot armed, Travis looked down his scope once again and aimed his rifle on one of the horse riders. He held his breath as he pulled the trigger.

The laser musket shot a powerful laser beam and the beam itself quickly made its way towards the target. Before the horse rider got hit, he heard something south of where he was. But at that point, it was too late. The moment the laser beam hit him in his torso, his entire body(besides his weapon and armor) turned into red ashes.

His horse got spooked and ran off, leaving behind a small pile of equipment and ashes that landed on the ground. The other horse rider naturally freaked out and tried to see what just happened to his comrade. This allowed Cait to sneak up to behind him as he got off his steed to scan the area, hoping to find out who did this.

Cait had her officer's sword equipped as she slashed the man in his back. While it did look like the rider was down for the count, he was still alive. So, Cait slashed him one more time with the sword to finish the job. The man's horse was still around, but not for long after Cait got it to leave.

Much like Veronica and Leon, they made sure to remember where these riders were as they trailed that lone man running through the forest. Travis made sure to arm his musket before moving, with Cait tagging along.

* * *

On the opposite half of the battlefield, Kyle and Aria were fighting off brigands that tried to surround them with sheer numbers. That plan was doomed to fail, either due to Aria sending a powerful beam of lighting on anyone who attacked them with Thoron, or Kyle blasting them backwards with shotgun slug shells in his hunting shotgun.

Just as the last of brigands surrounding them was taking a dirt nap, Kyle noticed that young Pegasus rider heading straight towards them, with the lance she held aiming for Kyle. Unlike last time, Kyle was ready to dodge and he did as she flew by him, narrowly missing his right arm.

Kyle did something a little bit unexpected as he made sure to reload his shotgun with a specific type of ammo. What he did was yell, "Hey, you mind stop trying to kill us and instead try to talk to us like a civilized being?" to the young Pegasus rider.

Surprisingly, she stopped attacking and said, "You want me to talk to someone like you? You and your allies are just trying to kill the real Chrom instead of the fa..." She suddenly stops talking as Kyle fire a bean bag round at her while she was talking. The bagged round hit her in the most heavily protected part of her armor, which was her torso.

She dropped her lance as she fell backwards off her Pegasus onto the ground. Thankfully, she was a few feet up in the air when she hit the ground and was still conscious after the impact. Kyle made sure to bolt over to her, with his shotgun ready to fire if he had to.

The young rider saw Kyle in front of her, which made her say, "Came to finish the job since whatever you did failed to kill me?", as she faced what seemed to be the end for her.

Instead, she heard the strangely dressed man say, "No, nothing of the sort. I came by to make sure you don't die, because I never planned to kill you."

The look on her face was one of questioning what she just heard, but before any response was given, one other person showed up in her vision. Kyle heard something behind him, and looked back to see what it was.

...Of course, a yelp and a thump gave it away immediately. The person who did that way too often was Sumia. She was trying to make her way towards the young rider after she tumbled on the ground after getting off her own Pegasus.

When Sumia finally got close enough to the grounded female rider, the young rider gasped as she was able to make out who got near her,

Sumia quickly said, "Pardon me, but...I think you may be misinformed. Can we speak for a moment?"

The young female responded with, "Don't waste your breath! Your lies ring hollow. Your… ring? ...Ring? Y-your RING! MOTHER!" as she noticed Sumia's ring on one of her hands.

The response Sumia gave was, "...What?"

The young lady continued with saying, "It is You! Oh, Mother, you're alive! I never thought I'd see you again! I...I… *sniff* Waaaaaah!" before breaking into tears.

Sumia tried to get to her to stop as she said, "Um… are you all right?"

The crying stopped as the young woman said. "WAIT!" But if you're on that side, that means… Ohmigosh. My Chrom is a FAKE! Oh, I am going to Kill him for this! I'm going to plant a flying hoof right in his stupid liar face!"

Sumia stopped her from getting up due to the fact that the young woman was still in pain. She also made sure to say, "Wait! We really should… Well, at least she's not confused anymore. If only I could say the same for me…"

Kyle overheard the conversation and connected the dots after they finished talking. He decided to spill what he realised as he said, "Uh.. Sumia, based on what I just heard, it sounds like the young lady here is your daughter...which I injured not too long ago…"

The two continued to silently look at each other, before Kyle spoke up once again, this time asking Sumia's "daughter", "I'm sorry for interrupting the silence, but what is your name?"

The young lady responded with, "My name is Cynthia".

Kyle quickly responded back with, "Cynthia, I'm Kyle Sevon, a fellow soldier like Sumia. I...I want to say that I'm sorry for hurting you earlier when you tried to attack me. I'll… go get someone to make sure to heal any wounds you got."

Before Kyle could leave to get a healer, Sumia got his attention. "Oh, by the way, Kyle?"

Kyle said in response, "Uh...What is it, Sumia?"

Despite the smile, however, Sumia's expression held none of its usual kindness. "If you ever injure my daughter in such a way like that again… … …" The Dark Flier let the sentence hang.

When Kyle saw that smile, he immediately learned to never do that again, especially with the way she spoke…

To say that he was "scared" was an understatement, because he was terrified beyond all belief. He tried to avoid showing how scared he was, which he somewhat did as he carefully said, "I…I promise that it won't ever happen again…OH GOD! Please don't kill me!" as he bolted for the nearest healer. He ran so fast that he ran past Aria as she made her way to Sumia.

* * *

Meanwhile, back to Travis and Cait, the pair was still tailing that lone man in the forest. He managed to find and convince more people to stick around and be ready to fight, but he left them behind. It was a bad idea, because each person he recruited got picked off by Travis or Cait.

Eventually, the lone man left the forest to see how his fellow men were doing. Based on the look he gave when he saw what was going on around him, it was all going wrong. But before he could head back and order the mercenaries he smoothed talked into working for him, Travis and Cait blocked his path.

The man looked like one of the brigands that the duo saw as they sneak around them. Not to mention his face had a rather distinct look, which was more or less, very ugly looking. Same goes for his hair and facial hair on him.

The ugly man shouted, "What do you two think you are doing blocking the great lord, Chrom from moving into the forest?"

Travis laughed as he said to Cait, "Cait, do you remember that story I told you about me meeting a impersonator trying to act like Preston Garvey?"

Cait realised what Travis was referring to and retorted with a rather devious smile as she said, "Now that you mention it, yeah I do remember it. But just to be sure, what did you do to him again?"

Travis made sure that the man away from him heard what he said which was, "Good question, Cait. I believe I told him that he was not fooling anyone, and I did the right thing by making sure he never did that again…"

The ugly man started getting nervous as he yelled, "You dare think I am a impersonator? You are clearly wrong and for that, you must pay the price for your foolish thoughts."

Travis just laughed one more time before he said, "You really should shut up and just surrender before we have no other choice but to kill you. You ready to surrender?"

The man responded by pulling out his weapon, which looked like an oddly shaped lighting blade. The odd sword was raised in the air, and a bolt or electricity struck Travis. It did hit him, but thanks to his armor, he didn't take the full force of the attack.

Travis quickly said in response, "Well, you heard the man say what he wants." to Cait. Cait followed up by unholstering her double-barreled shotgun and shooting the sword out of the ugly man's hands.

The sword got knocked away from the pellets hitting it and the man got hit by some of the pellets as well. He screamed in pain as he held his hands. Travis took a moment to walk towards the ugly man saying, "You plan on saying your real name yet?"

The ugly man continued to be in pain as he said, "Ruger…"

Travis noted the name as he pulled his Pipboy and selected one particular weapon out of storage. He pulled out an aluminum bat that was covered in two big saw blades held together with a sharp wire. The name Travis gave the bat was fittingly called "Homerun".

Travis ended up near the man named Ruger, and before he did anything else, Travis said, "Well Ruger, this game of your is over, so it's time to make sure you get "out of here"".

Before Ruger could even respond, Travis swung his bat and hit Ruger in the center of his body. As the bat hit Ruger, Travis knew he heard a sound that sounded like a baseball getting launched by a bat.

Ruger felt like the ball in that case because he got sent flying after getting hit. He went up so high that if the bat didn't kill him, the fall would finish the job. And just like that, Ruger fell back to the ground, no longer moving around.

With Ruger dead, Cait did the proper wasteland tradition of looting his corpse. The smile Travis saw on her face when she found the gold he was carrying made him smile back. But before he forgot, Travis made sure to go pick up the odd sword Ruger was carrying. When Travis examined the sword, he noticed that it took some damage from the buckshot, but it wasn't broken. Travis stored the sword away as he told Cait to make sure to not leave anything behind.

* * *

Eventually, the battle ended a little bit after that moment. Most of the Shepherds went back down south to meet up for their fellow allies. But the oddest thing was that despite every Shepherd being accounted for, the same could not be said for the Wastelanders.

The one accounted for was Kyle, which was given since he was standing near Aria. Just as Aria was going to ask Kyle if he knows where his group was, Kyle saw them heading towards him and Aria. Kyle started smiling as he called out to them saying, "Well, that explains what you guys were doing… Did you manage to find anything worthwhile in your scavenging?"

Aria looked, and her eyes widened. "That's scavenging for you? It looks to me like they picked the battlefield clean of everything that was there! Even the clothes off of some of the brigands' backs!"

Kyle made sure to get Aria's attention as he said, "Yeah, it seems like they all know the golden rule in the Wasteland. If you kill someone trying to kill you, you can take whatever you want from them after they stop moving…"

"...Well...depending on how bad things are where you're from...that might potentially be the best route towards survival is to recover whatever your enemies had on them, regardless of whether you need it right then or not...because who knows if you'll find it when you do?" Aria analyzed.

Kyle responded back with, "Yeah, you got a good idea of how bad it is, but you still lack the knowledge of how terrible it really is… I'll tell you more about it later...I need to ask what they found." before he walked off to meet up with his group.

Aria nodded. "Alright...but see if there's anything the rest of us could use, if you can: equipment may be more plentiful here, but…" She gave a friendly smile. "We don't exactly have the same 'scavenging instincts' as you guys do…" It was clear this was merely a request from a friend, not an order.

Kyle heard what she said and responded with a loud and quick, "Consider it done, Aria." before he caught up with his fellow Wastelanders. If things continue to go like this, then Kyle has nothing to worry about, especially when working with Aria.

End Chapter 7

* * *

 ***The scene opens back up, with everyone getting the small pizzas they ordered (and Veronica with her Sunset Sarsaparilla). Everything was going well and everyone was eating.***

 ***This continued for a while till Trevor asked Kyle a question.***

 **Trevor: "Hey Kyle, you mind giving me your full name?"**

 **Kyle: "Uh… sure. My full name is Kyle Sevon… in case you need to know."**

 ***Trevor gives a rather odd look to Kyle***

 **Trevor: "That's really odd… Your last name is the same name as my corporation… Are you sure that's your last name?"**

 **Kyle: "Yes, that is my last name. It had been my family's name for a lot of generations."**

 ***Trevor diverts his attention to MarkMartinMagma***

 **Trevor: "Care to explain why that name is associated with the two of us?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Because… Look! It's a monkey"**

 ***MarkMartinMagma points in the opposite direction of where Trevor was looking, tricked him into looking away before MarkMartinMagma started running away. Trevor catches on pretty quickly***

 **Trevor: "Hey! GET BACK HERE! You still need to explain why you did that!"**

 ***Trevor chases MarkMartinMagma***

 ***Mark Zhots sighs, stops eating his food, says "Pardon me for a moment" before chasing after Trevor***

 **IceBite: "Hmmm...well, there's no monkey, but there IS a package…hmmm...let's see…"**

 **Chrom: "...What is it?"**

 **IceBite: "...It's for me! My name, right there!" *Emperor Mitchell moves to speak* "And it specifies me, and 'not the Emperor of the same name'..." *Emperor Mitchell settles down* "...Hmmm...why is it shaking?"**

 **Veronica: "I hope that means that it will not explode…"**

 **IceBite: *carefully opens the box...and falls on his ass when something flies out***

 **Unknown Kivat: "FINALLY! Now...where am I?"**

 **IceBite: "Holy shit! It's a Kivat!"**

 **Everyone else but Ice and Emperor Mitchell: "What is that?"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "A member of one of the thirteen Demon Races from the Kamen Rider Kiva series...and if the coloration of this one is any indication-"**

 **Unknown Kivat: "I am not just any Kivat...I am Kiva-Bat the Second, partner-well...** _ **former**_ **partner...of the King of the Fangire...I was told my next partner awaited elsewhere, but before I could ask where, I was stuffed into that box…Since it seems I was mailed somewhere, who was the box addressed to?"**

 **Everyone except IceBite: *Points at IceBite***

 **IceBite: *looks at everyone in shock, before slouching* "Yeah, it was me…"**

 **Kiva-Bat the 2nd: "I see...well, it appears we have much to discuss...if you all will excuse us…" *Kiva-Bat the 2nd and IceBite leave***

 ***Everyone, but Amaris, looks at Emperor Mitchell and says some variation of, "I think I need to leave… this is just getting too confusing for me."**

 ***Everyone leaves Amaris and Emperor Mitchell by themselves.***

 **Emperor Mitchell: *sighs; looks at the reader* "Well, there doesn't appear to be anything left! Go...have a sandwich or go for a walk or something! The Chapter's done!"**

 ***Camera shuts off***

 **End Author's Notes  
**

* * *

 **Edit Log (Version 2.0): Added some minor changes  
**

 **Edit Log (Version 2.1): Added some spacing**


	8. Chapter 8: Low Class Noble

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns back on***

 ***The scene is not empty this time. However, instead of IceBite and MarkMartinMagma, Kyle and Leon were in their spots.***

 **Kyle: "Uh… This is your temporary host, Kyle Sevon."**

 **Leon: "And your temporary co-host, Leon Scott."**

 ***The two pull out their own copy of the script, double check the page they were on before looking back at the camera***

 **Kyle: "The… regular hosts… Am I reading this right? They... are currently not available..."**

 **Leon: "IceBite is uh... *whispers to Kyle, "** _ **Did you remember what happened? I kinda forgot.."**_

 **Kyle: *Whispers back, "** _ **I think IceBite was leaving with that bat-thing or whatever it was called. And don't ask me where MarkMartinMagma is…"**_

 ***A voice rings out from beyond the camera, which belonged to Veronica. She was tasked to be the cameraman for the time being.***

 **Veronica: "C'mon you two, stop whispering to each other and stick to the script."**

 ***The duo shakes their heads before they start talking again.***

 **Kyle: "Look, let's just start… *A portal opens near Kyle. Travis, Cait, and Dogmeat are seen being launched out of the portal.***

 ***The portal closes***

 **Kyle: *Stares at the camera before saying, "As I was going to say… we need to…"**

 ***Leon shouts, "Lookout!" before grabbing Kyle and forcing themselves to the ground***

 ***Trevor (In his Power Armor) is caught on the camera as he gets launched past Kyle and Leon***

 **Trevor: *says "SORRY!" as he interrupts the scene***

 **Leon: *Camera is now looking at him.* "We apologize for this unprofessional behavior going on… Is that…another portal?"**

 ***Veronica turns the camera around to show the portal.***

 ***The portal makes a odd sound as Henry is launched out of the portal.***

 ***Veronica keeps the camera on Henry as he lands near Leon and Kyle***

 **Leon: *Camera looks back to Leon* "You know what? Just start the chapter before something else happens."**

 ***Chapter 8 loads... loading…loading...**

 **Begin Chapter 8**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Low Class Noble**

 **At the Shepherd's Camp, a few hours later...**

Kyle was looking at the giant pile of scavenged items in front of him inside his tent. It mostly consisted of various articles of clothing or armor and weapons, with a few other items in the middle of the pile. Then he looked back down at the piece of paper he had in his hands and started listing down everything in the pile.

After a few minutes, Kyle finished the list of scavenged goods, starting with the weapons. There were at least 10 silver bows, 6 silver axes, 6 silver swords, 2 silver lances, 2 tomahawks, 3 books (1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow), 1 spear, and lastly, one odd looking sword with some damage on it.

Next was the armor and clothing, which there were at least 5 suits of armor and 10 outfits that were in good condition. The rest were too damaged to repair, so instead Travis took them to his tent to be scrapped for any materials that could be used for later.

The last thing on the list was the treasure that the brigands held. It consisted of 50 gold coins placed in a bag next to three large gold bars. And with that the list was done, ready to be sent to Aria. But before Kyle left his tent, he made sure to bring the books and damaged sword to ask if Aria knew the names of these weapons.

Kyle made his way to Aria's tent and made sure to say before entering, "Hey Aria, are you in there? I got a list of the items we scavenged from the battlefield."

"Ah. Alright, come in…" Aria replied. With that confirmation, Kyle entered the tent. He saw Aria scanning over notes and papers on the table. After setting the sword and books on the table next to the papers, Kyle got a closer look. From what he could tell, they seemed to be reports about various details and information from the battle earlier today. That was all he got to make out before he got Aria's attention when he finished staring at the reports.

Kyle tried to come up with something to say, but his mind got distracted because he ended up staring at her. "...You said you have the list of stuff your group scavenged…" Aria reminded.

The lack of a friend to remind Kyle to stop what he was doing made him take a bit more time for Aria's words to reach him. Kyle quickly shook his head and grabbed the list and handed it to Aria. He followed up with, "I got the weapons listed at the top and everything else listed below them."

Aria nodded, and accepted the list. "Alright." She then looked over the list, and at reaching a certain point, she asked, "They _actually_ took...the brigands' clothes and armor as well? Well...I _did_ deduce such things were probably common for you...anyways…" She went back to reading the list, before finally saying, "While I'm guessing the others are going to want to keep the gold, from here-on-out, see what you can do about getting them to set some aside to add to the Shepherds' coffers: our equipment and supplies aren't cheap…especially when we buy them off Anna…Anyways, you also brought some stuff with you?"

Kyle responded with, "Yes, I did. The… stuff I brought was these books and this sword." as he pointed them out to Aria. Aria began looking over each item, first the red book-"Hmmm...Arcfire…"-then the yellow one-"...Arcthunder…"-then the green one-"...Arcwind, I believe…"-before finally looking at the sword. "...This is definitely a Levin Sword, albeit slightly damaged…"

Kyle spoke up saying, "Well, feel free to pass around those "Arc books" to whoever needs them at the moment and that Levin Sword as well… If you need anything else from that list, make sure to say so."

Aria nodded. "I will, thank you…"

Kyle smiled as he said, "No need for the thanks, It's just me making sure your group has supplies." He was going to head out when he suddenly realized something was missing in his memory.

Kyle looked at Aria one more time before asking, "Uh… Aria, did you manage to see Dogmeat with my group after that battle?"

Aria thought for a moment, before replying, "...Actually...No, I didn't: I saw him fight off some brigands during the battle, but I didn't see him since then…"

Kyle's mind immediately jumped to a rather quick conclusion, which he responded with, "If you didn't see him, than…Oh…We left him behind on that battlefield…"

However, that conclusion turned out to be false, as the dog in question entered Aria's tent, holding a bag in his mouth.

The Courier and Tactician were just about to question why Dogmeat was here with that bag, but when they heard a particular voice from outside Aria's tent, they got the answer.

The voice belong to Cait and she was saying, "Where are you little mole rat? Stop hiding and let me take those gold coins for "safekeeping..."" in a rather suspicious tone.

Kyle immediately grabbed the bag from Dogmeat and checked inside the bag. Much like they heard, it was full of gold coins, 50 in fact.

"...So...what're you going to do with them? Sounds to me like 'safekeeping' means she's keeping them 'safe' for herself…" Aria asked.

Kyle shook his head before saying, "I'll have to convince her that the gold has to be split among our group equally, and if she wants a bit more, then she has to avoid doing stuff like this."

With that in mind, Kyle waved Aria goodbye before telling Dogmeat to follow him. The Courier and the loyal canine left the tent, with what sounded like Cait getting surprised by bumping into them.

Aria then heard what sounded like an argument between Cait and Kyle. She listened for a bit, and eventually, after going back and forth, it sounded like they finally came to an agreement. Finally, silence having fallen, Aria muttered to herself, "What is with Cait, anyways? If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was as bad as Anna, when it comes to money..."

* * *

 **A few days later…**

The Wastelanders and Shepherds continued the search for the children from the future. Heading way up north on after leaving the island, they have found what looked to be a large decaying shrine surrounded by grass and small lakes.

Just as seemed like it was abandoned, one of the Wastelanders, Travis, spotted what looked like to be a small band of villagers taking shelter inside the ruined shrine. Travis immediately notified Aria and Chrom about what he saw and suggested that they investigate what was going on.

After navigating the massive group to the shrine, The villagers explained what was going on around the shrine and why they were there. Apparently, this shrine was part of some sacred grounds and the shrine was going to be besieged by a large number of brigands. The villagers took it upon themselves to defend this location, but asked for any assistance in protecting these ruins.

Naturally, Chrom agreed to offer his army's support, which meant that Aria quickly scanned the ruins and surrounding area to effectively organize who should go where to ensure a solid defense around these ruins.

* * *

The battle plan was to have the entrances into the shrine being defended by anyone with a ranged weapon to pick off any brigands that tried to get in. And in case there was too many brigands to handle for the ranged attackers, they had backup with melee fighters and healers on standby. In addition, a small offensive force was made to locate and attack any leaders of these brigands plotting to disturb these sacred grounds.

The pairs for this battle were Kyle and Aria, Veronica and Cait, and Leon and Henry. Travis and Dogmeat were not assigned partners, while everyone else followed Aria's plan accordingly. And not too long after everyone got into position, the brigands that were said to attack showed up.

With that, the battle started as brigands charged across the battlefield. On the western entrance, Leon and Henry were getting ready for anyone that got into attacking range. Leon was using his hunting rifle and Henry was equipped with a Ruin tome.

Several brigands armed with swords, axes, and lances showed up heading for the western entrance. Leon made sure to aim for the closest attacker and fired a round. The bullet struck the charging swordsman in the head and brought the attacker to the ground. Leon continued to stick to that plan as Henry aimed Ruin spells at any brigands near each other. This went on till Henry and Leon unintentionally shot at the same target, which was also the last brigand heading for the entrance.

Leon took a moment to begin thinking of something to say, but after remembering who was next to, he ended up staying silent. While Leon stayed silent, Henry seemed to be having a blast based on the fact he kept making puns involving the Ruin spell he was using. Leon made sure to zone those out as time went on.

* * *

The south side of the shrine had Aria and Kyle acting as backup. There were a few times when they got signaled to help deal with a large group of brigands charging the south entrance. Kyle was picking off at least half of every group with Lucky or the Ranger Sequoia (when he didn't have time to reload Lucky), while Aria got the rest with the new Arcthunder tome in her possession.

The eastern entrance was where Travis was assigned, and he was pulling double duty acting as a ranged fighter and medic. There were times where he had to shoot Brigands running for the entrance with his scoped lever action rifle. Then there were times when a Shepherd or Wastelander needed a quick healing from Travis.

But at one point in the battle, as Travis finished picked off a bow wielding attacker off in the distance, a rather young man with a staff and robes tried to leave the shrine. He didn't look like any of the healers that Travis already met...

Travis made sure to block the young man from leaving before he said, "Hey! If you want to do anything to help us, it would be a good idea to stay here till the battle is over."

The young man responded with, "You're telling me to sit here, when there are people out there fighting for their lives that need a healer? Just move out of my way before you end up wasting my time I could be using to save someone."

Travis continues to block the young man as he tries to get around Travis. After a few seconds of this play out, Travis gets impatient, which leads him to say, "Look, whoever you are, you should know that your duty as a healer is to be there as support, not getting killed in the frontlines. Now, what is your name?"

"Says the old guy in the weird costume...name's Brady, by the way…" the young man replied.

"Well "Brady", based on the fact that you called me old, when I'm actually 33 years old, you clearly lack any idea of manners for those older than you… and now I have another reason to get in your way."

Once Travis finished saying that, Brady tried to get by Travis once again. But Travis made sure to keep Brady from leaving. Around that time, a voice rang up near the two. Travis noticed on the look Brady was giving and the fact that he stopped trying to leave, Brady knew who that voice belong to.

The voice as it turns out, belonged to Maribelle. She was in transit to another part of the shrine when she was passing by Brady and Travis. Then the oddest thing happened…

As Maribelle passed by, Brady just gave a couple of laughs before he followed up with something that Travis didn't end up hearing.

Apparently, Maribelle overheard the laughter coming from Brady, but not whatever he said after he stopped laughing. It probably didn't help that he was looking at Maribelle when that was going on, because she quickly turned her head away as she continued to move along.

Brady started following her and that gave Travis some time to get back to keeping an eye out for brigands. But despite being on the lookout for the enemy, none were showing up. It also didn't help that he could hear Maribelle and Brady talking about something.

From what he heard (and he did because of how loud Maribelle got), apparently Brady knew who Maribelle was, but not the other way around. And just when their conversation ended, Travis was sure that he heard Brady say something about seeing her again or something.

Brady eventually returned back to Travis, trying to see if there was a way to get past him. As Brady thought to himself, Travis decided to ask the question on his mind, which was, "So Brady… how do you know already know who Maribelle is when she doesn't know you?"

"So...why were you eavesdropping?" Brady asked.

Travis retorted with, "Because the conversation between the two of you was loud enough for me to hear…So I ask one more time, why do you know who she is?", as he gave a serious stare at Brady.

Brady sighed before saying, "Fine: because she's my mother, why do you need to know?"

Travis began explaining why as he said, "I'm an associate with the group Maribelle is working with for the time being. But…" Travis stopped talking as he just realized what he failed to notice. The fact that he just noticed that Brady's hair was the same color as Lucina and Chrom...And the fact that Aria always made sure to pair Chrom and Maribelle together…

The dead air lasted for a second before Travis refocused his thoughts and finished talking with, "Look, just know that I'm working with the Shepherds and that I want to make sure someone like you doesn't die before their mother realizes that she just unintentionally met her son…"

The response, or rather the lack of one from Brady filled the air again with dead air. Travis noticed that Brady still had a look of wanting to do something written on his face. Travis sighed and said, "If you really want to help, you can help me by treating anyone that needs healing from being in the battle… Just make sure to stay around here, Okay?"

Brady sighed, and nodded. "Alright, that works…" As he readied his staff, Brady then said, "Ah...by the way...I'm sorry about the 'old' comment…"

Travis gave a rather small smile as he said, "Don't worry about it, the..."

Brady however interrupted, "But your outfit is still extremely strange."

Travis' smile quickly went away as he finished saying with an annoyed tone, "Comment about the outfit was the one that really bugged me... ", before he switched his attention back to picking off brigands.

* * *

The brigands attacking the shrine started decreasing gradually as the battle went on. With each entrance still being defended, a small group of three was sent out to be the counter attack on the brigands.

The small group consisted of Cait, Veronica, and Dogmeat. The three made their way up north dealing with any brigands that tried to stop them. Eventually, they saw the leader giving these attackers their orders to charge at the shrine.

The leader was a man wearing armor while he carried a tomahawk in one hand and a shield in the other. Besides that, he had a rather sinister grin on his face and somewhat messy hair in certain spots on his head.

Veronica quickly came up with a plan that she told Cait. Based on the look Cait was giving, It sounded like a good idea. And with that, the plan was started.

Cait and Dogmeat got the leader's attention by getting within hearing range as Cait taunted with saying, "Hey! You with the ax and shield! You better give up before I send this dog right next to me to attack you."

The brigand leader just laughed, not taking Cait's threat seriously as he said, "You think a mutt like that will be able to harm me? You are just as stupid as those fools in the shrine."

Cait continued to talk to keep his attention on her and Dogmeat, which she followed with up saying, "No, I think it's you. You remind me of all the morons I met that thought to never take me seriously when they should have. So, feel like proving me wrong, moron?"

The leader started getting angry listening to what Cait was saying and decided to get her to shut up. He threw his tomahawk at Cait, but she ended up dodging it by quickly moving out of the way.

Cait decided to say one last thing before she and Dogmeat started moving away saying, "Well, that just proves that you still are a moron and that you got bad aim."

The leader noticed Cait trying to get away, so he ran for his tomahawk and he grabbed it off the ground, getting ready to throw it at Cait again. But before he could even do that, he heard a voice right behind him say, "You really are a moron to not realize it was a trick."

Veronica finished saying that as she waited for him to counterattack, which he did. The man tried to hit Veronica with the tomahawk, but she knocked it out of his hand by using her power fist gauntlet to dislodge it. He tried to follow up with by trying to slam his shield on Veronica's head, but she gave a quick power fist punch to his head and knocked him to the ground.

With the leader on the ground, Veronica signaled Cait and Dogmeat to head to her. As they made their way, Veronica kept the man from picking up his weapon. With Cait and Dogmeat nearby, it was time to begin the second phase of the plan.

Veronica told Cait, "Ready?"

Cait responded with a quick, "Yes."

The two female Wastelanders pulled out their respective weapons they were carrying on their backs. Veronica had a normal sledgehammer, while Cait had the Super Sledge. They played a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, with Veronica winning and being the first one to start.

Veronica decided which limb to strike first and she chose the left leg. With that, she swung the head of the sledgehammer into the leg as hard as she could. The man screamed in pain before Cait took her turn by striking his right leg with her hammer. The jet powered hammer landed on the spot Cait was aiming for and the brigand leader started screaming in pain once again.

This continued on as Veronica hit his left arm, and Cait took his right arm. Surprisingly, the brigand was still alive, albit in excruciating pain. Veronica asked the dying brigand for his name. His response took a while, but he said his name was Xalbador.

Veronica quickly said, "Let's just end this already." to Cait and she agreed. With that, the two aimed their hammers and struck the man in his torso at the same time. It was safe to say that it was over after that.

The last thing they did before leaving was take anything of value (and of course that meant everything) from the former leader. His armor was damaged enough to be scrapped, but not his weapon, which was in great condition. There was one odd item that he was carrying, and it looked to be a golden gyroscope encasing a red sphere at its core or something like that. Whatever it was, Cait and Veronica made sure to hold onto it as they continued scavenging the battlefield.

* * *

With the leader of the brigands taken care of, the plan to attack the shrine was thwarted before any damage could be done. In addition, every villager inside the shrine was safe, due to the defense plan Aria came up with.

When word got around the shrine that the battle was over, Travis decided to ditch Brady to get started on the scavenging. It helped that Brady stop paying attention to what was going on around him as he heard the much needed information.

Much like the last battle, The Shepherds were the first to reorganize and the Wastelanders, save for Kyle, were still out scavenging the area around the shrine.

However, there was a bit of a commotion coming from two people. The two were making a scene about something, and this got everyone's attention as they all looked to see what was going on. As it turns out, it was Brady and Maribelle. The two went from being mad at each to being on the verge of crying in front of everyone, especially after Maribelle's last words.

Kyle was sure he heard Chrom say, "Oh brother." after that last part. Kyle agreed with Chrom, before thinking to himself, "I really hope this doesn't happen for every single reunion from here on out. "

But that thought was quickly forgotten as he saw his fellow Wastelanders return with what they scavenged. The haul looked to be good, except when Kyle noticed one particular suit of armor that Veronica was carrying.

"Hey Veronica, what…what happened to that suit of armor you got with you? It looks like… It got trampled by a herd of Bighorners." Kyle said as he stared the damaged armor.

Veronica tried to plan her words out before she said, "No, nothing like that happened. It.. got banged up because we… we use our hammers on the guy wearing it." Veronica quickly tilted her head toward Cait to non-directly say that Cait was involved.

Kyle responded with, "Besides that… Did you find anything else worthwhile?"

Cait spoke up as saying, "Not much besides whatever this thing is used for.", as she pulled out the golden gyroscope object.

As Kyle stared at the object, Veronica asked Kyle, "So Kyle, where did Aria go?"

Kyle blanked out for a moment before he said, "She said that she was going to meet Maribelle's kid named Brady… I think that was his name."

Veronica continued with, "Did she say that she was going to come back? We could ask what she knows about this "thing"."

Kyle didn't respond back for a few seconds due to him still staring at the object, so Veronica dropped what she was carrying and slapped Kyle with her non Power Fist hand.

"Oww…Oh... Uh... Aria said that she would be back real quick." Kyle said as he tried to ignore the pain.

Sure enough, Aria arrived. Before she could say anything, however, her eyes fell upon the object in Cait's hands. Her eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"

Cait gave a rather nonchalant response as she said, "This golden thing? We found it being carried by the leader of the brigands… And this thing must be made of some durable material or we managed to not hit this thing when we attacked him."

"What do you mean by that?" Aria asked.

Kyle said in response, "Look on the ground near Veronica… You'll see what Cait said that…" as he pointed at the damaged armor on the ground.

"...Oh…" was Aria's reply.

Veronica tried to explain why the armor was in that state, but only ended up saying, "What Cait meant to say was that the two of us may have gone a bit overboard…"

Cait responded back with, "No, what we did was not going overboard. I say it was justice for a guy that acts like every raider back home."

"Raider? Are they your world's brigands or something?" Aria asked.

Kyle sighed as he said, "Yes and No...They do act like brigands from this world…But…I'll tell you about them when I elaborate a bit more on how bad our world is…Raiders are one of the many problems we have back home…."

"I see…" Aria stated, "...Anyways, that item you have, it's called a Master Seal: it allows people, at least those from our world, I'm not sure if it'd work on you, is immediately unlock the potential of someone in one of many ways it can be for them. For example, if some one's combat style could be improved by gaining a level of skill in archery, and they don't already know it, the Master Seal grants them limited knowledge of Archery, enough to get them started. That said, they're rare, and highly important to us due to that."

Everyone around Aria noted her words, especially Cait. She had a rather devious smile as she said, "How important are we talking here? Because based on how you implied it, I bet these would be worth a lot of gold…"

Aria's eyes narrowed. "Enough to where we do our best to gather each and every one we find, so when we need them, we have them…" she replied.

Kyle explicitly made sure Cait heard his words as he said to Aria, "Of course, WE as a group would like to make sure you know that any item like that will be given to the Shepherds will NOT COST ANY GOLD to acquire it."

Travis also followed Kyle's method as he said, "Yes, WE will make sure that NO ONE in this group does that. RIGHT Cait?"

Cait had a large look of disagreement as she sighed to herself. She handed the Master Seal over to Aria saying, "Just take this."

As Aria took the Master Seal, Cait looked at both Travis and Kyle, while saying in a rather somewhat angry tone, "You two really like to shoot down any method of making some money... I'm going to talk to Leon, since he ain't here and I don't want to be here anymore."

And with that, Cait stormed off looking for Leon.

After a few moments, Aria stated, more muttering to herself than anything, to where Kyle and Travis just BARELY heard her, "I never thought I'd see anyone who was worse with money than Anna…" She then said aloud, "Is there any particular reason she's like this?"

Travis answered with, "Cait...Cait is probably trying to cope with what is going on... She…went through a life changing moment not too long ago, before we ended up here... I know what it is, but as one of her only friends… I… don't want to…betray her by telling you what it is before she can.. ." His words stopped after that as he took a deep breath.

Everyone just stood around being silent, taking in what Travis just said. He followed up with, "Aria, if you don't mind, I'll talk to her about this and try to get her to stop this before things get worse."

Aria nodded. "That would be a good idea," she replied.

The Shepherds and Wastelanders returned back to the camp, some glad with how things went, with others feeling the opposite. There are some just moments when life gets difficult, but it serves as a reason to keep moving onward. That's what Kyle hoped Cait learned after Travis talked to her.

End Chapter 8.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Kyle: "And that was Chapter 8 of Fire Fallout: Nuclear Awakening."**

 **Leon: "Hopefully nothing crazy will happen as we finish this part."**

 **Kyle: "Yeah... But don't worry about that, we made sure to let things settle down."**

 ***Veronica shows a 360 view around using the camera, showing that things have become orderly for the time being.**

 **Leon: "So, the first topic for this part is…"**

 ***Roots of the King by Tetra Fang starts playing, at 2:56 in the song***

 ***** _ **CRASH**_ *****

 **Dark Lord Sauron: *Flies through the wall, and slams into the other side, with a green symbol, that looked like some form of wings beneath a moon (based on what the three Wastelanders could make out) made of green energy holding him in place, as he struggled to escape***

 **Veronica: "Uh…Who is that and what is going on?"**

 **Kyle and Leon: *Both say "Don't ask me."***

 **Veronica: "Should I just stay quiet and keep filming?"**

 **Kyle and Leon: *Both quickly say, "YES!"**

 ***Veronica gets the camera ready to catch anything that happens onwards***

 **Kivat the 2nd: *from outside* WAKE UP 2!**

 **Kyle and Leon: "Why does that voice sound familiar?"**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: *Crashes through the ceiling in a flying kick, green energy blades on his foot, as he kicks Sauron, causing the Dark Lord to explode violently. Soon, the dust clears, and the person in the incredibly odd looking red and black armor with a black cape is visible.***

 ***The Song Ends***

 **Kyle: "Okay, this has gone far enough."*Pulls out YCS/186* "Whoever you are, you need to explain who you are before this rifle here goes off.**

 **Leon: *Pulls out A3-21's Plasma Rifle* "Same here for me. So…WHO are YOU?"**

 **Veronica: *quietly says "** _ **Man, they are really mad from everything going on interrupting the show…**_ **" without letting Leon or Kyle hear what she said***

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "Hey! Lay off, would ya?! I mean, this day's been awesome, and I don't want that awesomeness to end! Mainly because…" The armor disappears, revealing him to be IceBite, with Kivat the 2nd flying off a belt that was around IceBite, before said belt disappeared. "...Because this day has been really AWESOME!"**

 ***Both men put their weapons away, but they still look very angry.***

 **Kyle: "You know what? I quit. I QUIT BECAUSE STUFF LIKE THIS KEEPS HAPPENING AND I CAN'T HANDLE IT ANYMORE!"**

 **Leon: "I agree with Kyle, BECAUSE I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE AS WELL!"**

 **Veronica: "But guys, we need to finish this part."**

 ***Both men just say "No." and leave to get away from the nonsense***

 **Veronica: *Leaves the camera behind as she says, "Hey, don't leave me here… C'mon guys…" as she left to convince the two to keep working.***

 **IceBite: "What Vay Hek was going on anyways? And why were they-"**

 ***Trevor is seen flying across the camera's view and ends up flying into IceBite at a ludicrous speed knocking both of them to the ground***

 ***MarkMartinMagma shows up, saying, "That's why you don't mess with the writer in charge, Trevor."***

 **IceBite: *Pushes Trevor off him, and clears throat***

 **Kivat the 2nd: *Comes down and perches on IceBite's right shoulder***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Notices IceBite and Kivat the 2nd* "Hey Ice…What is that on your shoulder?"**

 **IceBite: "Oh, this is Kivat the 2nd. He came in the mail for me after you left…"**

 **Kivat the 2nd: "And I** _ **never**_ **want to be put in that box again…"**

 **IceBite: "Anyways...Kivat 2 also lets me do this!"**

 **Kivat the 2nd: *flies up, grabbed by Daniel's right hand and held to his left, where he bites IceBite's right hand, causing stained glass-looking cracks to appear across Daniel's hands and up to Daniel's neck.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "What is he doing now?"**

 **IceBite: *Holds Kivat the 2nd high, as chains appear around him, before transforming into a belt with perch for Kivat the 2nd to hang upside down on.* "Henshin!" *Sets Kivat the 2nd on the perch on the belt, and soon, quicksilver flows over IceBite, before shattering like stained glass, revealing the armor of Kamen Rider Dark Kiva.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *says "So, that's what you ended up getting after going through all of that?" in a rather bored tone.***

 ***Before Dark Kiva said anything, something crashed through the ceiling, landing nearby. It turns out it was the ruined helm of Sauron.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Still in the bored tone as he says, "And I assume you caused that as well?"***

 **IceBite: "Well...when you use a flying kick with magical energy blades on your foot and the impact causes a force equivalent to being hit by 180 tons, you're bound to cause a LOT of damage…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "You do know that the armor does look a bit ridiculous right? But getting to the point, did you know what was going on around here before you showed up in that?"**

 **IceBite: *shrugs* "...Not really...all I cared about was that the Big Bad of Lord of the Rings was wreaking havoc, and I was now a badass Kamen Rider…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Well Mr. Ice Rider, you apparently interrupted a recording for some commentary for Chapter 8 since we were gone. Kyle, Leon, and Veronica tried to do our jobs and got interrupted by a lot of things, especially you, from what I heard from Veronica."**

 **IceBite: "... … ...And? I had no control where Sauron flew. Besides, how many times have WE been interrupted, either by outside forces or whatever comes to mind for us?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *sighs for a bit before saying, "You know what, I'm going to let you talk to them about it." Changes his attention to Trevor before saying, "C'mon Trevor, get up and let's get out of here."***

 **Trevor: *gets up and says, "You're not mad at me anymore for trying to chase you down expecting to answer my question?"  
MarkMartinMagma: "Yes, what I did was dumb and I'm sorry for what I did."**

 **Trevor: "Well…Thank you for apologizing...Let's get out of here."**

 ***MarkMartinMagma and Trevor leave the room***

 **IceBite: *shakes head* "Well...looks like we're done here...let's go, Kivat 2…"**

 **Kivat the 2nd: *perches on IceBite's right shoulder again* "Very well…"**

 ***IceBite and Kivat the 2nd depart***

 ***Camera stays on***

 **End Author's Notes  
**

* * *

 **Edit Log (Version 2.0): Added some changes.  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Nuclear Supports II

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns back on***

 ***Instead of footage catching something new, the scene playing out in front of the camera was the same before it turned itself off.***

 ***Travis and Henry were in the same spots, with Travis still hitting the side of Henry's head with a paddle ball. Henry still had that same look on his face as he continued to not move in any way.***

 **IceBite: *peaked in* "... … … … … … … … ...Huh?"**

 **Travis: *Continues on with what he was doing***

 **IceBite: "...So...that wasn't the 'Quantum Paddleball'?"**

 **Travis: *Notices IceBite and dryly says, "If I knew that I would be able to scare everyone with a paddle ball today, I would have brought in a teddy bear doll instead."**

 **IceBite: *sighs* "...Might as well go try to find the others…"**

 **Travis: "Can you do me a favor and bring me a bottle of Nuka-Cola? I could really use one after doing this for 30 mins."**

 **IceBite: *sighs again* "Don't know why you guys like radioactive soda, but...alright…" *leaves***

 **Travis: *says to himself, "It may be radioactive, but I got a gut of lead that will take care of that problem…" as he takes a break from hitting Henry with a paddle ball.***

 ***Loud stomping sounds sounds, and the sound of flesh shifting and metal plates banging...until finally, Emperor Mitchell finishes shapeshifting back to his Mortal Form, armored up, and enters the studio***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "... … ...Where is everyone?"**

 **Travis: "Everyone ran off thinking I had a paddle ball of death, when in actually I had a rather mundane paddle ball…"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "...I see…"**

 **Chrom: *Enters with Aria (who'd broken free of Kyle) and Maribelle* "...What's this about a 'Paddleball of Death'?"**

 **Travis: *Takes a quick breath before pointing at Henry, saying, "First of all, what I have here in my hands is a NORMAL Paddle ball, not the one that kills people. Secondly, I'm trying to get Henry over here back to the world from whatever happened to him. So, If you don't mind, I need to get back to work."***

 **Chrom: "...Alright…"**

 **Kyle: *Slowly walks back into the studio with the other Wastelanders following along. He nervously says, "Did I overreact when I saw Travis pull out a paddle ball?"**

 **Travis: *responds with a sarcastic tone saying, "No, you didn't, you just imagined that a Deathclaw just suddenly showed up wearing Power Armor."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "Hmmm...a Deathclaw in Power Armor...Ophelia: make a note in the log!"**

 **Ophelia: *from the Power Armor's speakers* "Copy that!"**

 **Kyle: *Noting Travis' tone, he said, "Well… that's something I need to forget before I fall asleep tonight." *Turns around to his fellow Wastelanders, telling them they can head into the studio.***

 **IceBite: *returns* "The others, those that aren't already here, should be back shortly…"**

 **Travis: *Starts hitting Henry with the paddle ball again as he says,"Did you get the Nuka-Cola I asked for?"***

 **IceBite: *sighs* "Yeah…" *Hands it over***

 **Travis: *Takes the bottle, quickly pulls off the cap and drinks the entire bottle with a few gulps. After the bottle is empty, he pockets it and utters a quick, "Thanks." as he goes back to work.***

 **IceBite: "... … ...Damn, that was fast…"**

 ***Chapter 9 Loads… loading…***

 ***Chapter 9 starts…***

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Nuclear Supports II**

 **At the camp…**

The Wastelanders, minus Cait, were at the Mess Hall tent. They just got done unloading the scavenged weapons and armor at Kyle's tent for organizing and making a list of what was found. And to celebrate a good job bringing back a lot of materials, Kyle proposed they get a big meal to enjoy.

But, when they got inside the tent, every table was empty and the food that was placed out was not touched at all. It was odd because around this time, this place would be filled with Shepherds eating and talking with each other.

Despite that fact, the Wastelanders still decided to group up and enjoy the meal. After getting what they wanted, they all started eating. The main problem they all noticed with their food was that it was overcooked or under-cooked, saying that whoever was in charge of cooking was doing a terrible job.

Of course, the food was still edible, or at least editable to the Wastelanders. The comments they all had was that it beat raw radroach meat. Afterwards, Veronica, Leon, and Dogmeat left to go do their own thing. Travis left after he got some food for Cait, since she didn't show up at the Mess Hall tent.

* * *

Kyle was the only one left and he decided to see who was the one cooking. As Kyle entered the kitchen portion of the tent, he immediately saw who it was. It was Aria, who was trying to get a slab of meat to be cooked. Based on the fact that was a small pile of charred meat near Aria, and the fact that she was mumbling to herself a lot, she was clearly having trouble.

"Hey Aria, you need any help back here?" Kyle asked as he looked around.

Aria jumped, startled. She whirled around, to face Kyle, before settling down. "...Oh...Kyle...Yeah, I guess I could use some help…"

Kyle responded back with, "So, what type of meat are you cooking right now?"

"Bear...It's a favorite of some of the people here, like myself and Chrom, but others, like Lissa and Frederick, don't like it all too much…" Aria explained.

"Bear meat? Well… I'm sure my experience in cooking Yao Guai meat will help a lot." Kyle said as he scanned the kitchen for the tools they had.

Aria smiled. "Thanks...let's see what we can do with this…"

As the two worked together to cook the remaining bear meat, Kyle ended up giving Aria some pointers about how to cut up the meat, add some additional ingredients to change the taste, and lastly, how long to cook the meat till it came out just right.

The advice Kyle gave Aria turned out to be very useful because she was able to actually make two well-cooked bear steaks. After they cleaned up the kitchen, the two decided to taste the meal they created by working together.

Suffice to say, the bear steaks were really good, especially for Kyle. He made a comment about how the bear meat tasted better than the Yao Guai steaks he cooked up back in the Wasteland.

Aria smiled and replied, "Thank you for the help...although, one thing I want to know: what ARE Yao Guai? I take it they're some kind of bear analogue in the Wasteland?"

"You would be right... but... how do I put this? Umm...Yao Guai... are bears, except they are not NORMAL bears… they are more like mutated bears, much like every other mutated wildlife in the Wasteland,.." Kyle said as he tried to think out his response.

"I see...is all wildlife in the Wasteland mutated in some form?" Aria asked.

"Yeah… you got the general gist… except for the fact that said wildlife is very dangerous and at least 2 or 3 times bigger than normal due to the radiation being everywhere in the Wasteland." Kyle responded with as he remembered the various animals trying to kill him in the past.

"I see...although...what exactly IS radiation?" Aria asked, "I heard you and the others mention it a couple times, but...I don't exactly KNOW what it is…"

Kyle had to think about his response before he retorted with, "Radiation...is like...you know how you can feel the sun warming your skin when you stand out in sunlight?"

Aria nodded in reply.

Kyle continued with, "That is the result of the sun emitting radiation in invisible waves you can't see with your eyes, but… that radiation isn't the one I'm referring to. To keep it short, there are different types of radiation… the worst one being Gamma radiation… the one that currently covers the entire wasteland. It gets everywhere inside food, water, even animals and humans."

"What exactly does it do?" Aria asked, "What makes it dangerous?"

"Gamma Radiation is dangerous, mainly because it could cause two really nasty things to happen. The first one is the fact that if enough radiation of that type gets in your system… you'll get extremely sick and weak before you die. If that doesn't happen, chances are the radiation will mess with your body in horrifying ways... and much like the animals… humans can get affected as well." Kyle stated in a serious tone.

"If a person gets a lot of radiation and does not die, they could end up what we call "Ghouls". Ghouls are people who lose their skin and end up looking like they were set on fire... and the worst part is that even if they survive THAT, they can lose their minds and mindlessly attack anyone in a moment if they continue to be exposed to the radiation. That is one of the many reasons why the Wasteland is so dangerous, besides other nasty stuff…" Kyle said, still using the same serious tone.

Aria blinked, then nodded. "I see… … …" She began thinking a bit. "...And how long has it been like this, again?"

"As far as I know, at least 200 years ago, based on the time we use in the Wasteland…" Kyle responded.

"And it's still like that?" Aria questioned, shocked.

Kyle responded with a quick and emotionless, "Yes.".

Aria was silent and contemplative for a short bit afterwards. Eventually, she asked, "So...I take it being in a world like ours, with normal life and no radiation, is...a new experience for you and the others?"

"In some ways, yes and no." Kyle said before a faint smile showed up as he followed up with, "There are places in the Wasteland that have recovered from the radiation that are safe, which would allow people to have a "normal" life…or at least what counts as "normal" for Wasteland standards."

Aria then became contemplative again. "Alright...so...what DO you think of this world?"

"This world? I would say it beats the Wasteland by a massive margin, but…from what I noticed so far; this place isn't exactly that much safer than the Wasteland...with the Risen and the talk about the future Lucina comes from…" Kyle honestly stated.

Aria nodded. "I guess I can see where you're coming from…" Aria then turned contemplative again. "You seem to know a lot about the past of your world…"

"It helps that a lot of places around the Wasteland have information in various forms that survived 200 years of time about what happened. Speaking of the past, I never asked, but what is your story, before you started working with the Shepherds?" Kyle asked.

Aria froze a bit, and saddened a little. "I...I don't know...my earliest memory is about two years ago, when Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick found me in the middle of a field...I haven't been able to find out much about my past, except… … …" She then shook her head.

Noting the way she acted, Kyle said, "I'm sure you will find out what it was one day... Maybe I can help you with that after we get everything revolving around this "bad future" stuff resolved... If you want."

Aria smiled. "...I would like that. Thank you…"

* * *

Veronica just stared at the book she was reading. It was filled with notes and scribbles in her own handwriting about various electronic parts and how they could be used..

Next to her on the table was what looked to be a jury-rigged radio with a small dish antenna attached to it. The dish part was somewhat small and seemed to be made of scraps of metal, much like the outer case of the radio.

Veronica looked away from her book towards the radio, before getting a bit mad as she went to look back at her notes. The radio was not working for some reason despite the use of her extensive notes and design. She built plenty of radios before using that book of hers, but she was missing something that drove her up the wall.

Just as she was going to give up, the sound of someone talking outside her tent interrupted the silence inside the tent.

"Hey Veronica, its Leon. You got a minute to talk?" The Lone Wanderer said.

"Yeah… I do. You can head on in and take a seat." Veronica replied.

Noting her words, Leon entered the tent and sat down across the table from Veronica and scanned the device on the table.

"So, what are you working on?" Leon asked.

"I'm trying to build a radio to see if we can find a way to pick up radio signals in case they exist out here." Veronica stated as she skimmed her book again.

Leon laughed for a bit before saying, "The chances of you pulling that off is as slim as convincing me to go hug a Mirelurk without armor."

Veronica just stared back before dryly saying, "I don't know what a Mirelurk is, but it sounds really similar to something I know called a Lakelurk. Those things are "perfect" for "hugging people", provided you get them out of the water first."

Leon getting the hint, responded with, "That's another critter name to add to my list of critters that make great "huggers"."

A moment of two of silence passed before Leon spoke up again, this time saying, "You need any help with the radio?"

Veronica sighed before retorting with, "I do...I double checked everything and even took it apart and rebuilt it again and I still can't get it to work."

Leon looked over the junk-made radio again before replying with, "Are you using a fission battery as its power source?"

"Yes...Why do you ask?" Veronica wondered.

"First, fission batteries are a bit bulky for radios. What you should be using is energy cells or electron charge packs for their smaller size and the fact that we can recycle them as they get used. Here, I got plenty of spare cells and packs on me in case you need more." Leon said as he placed two energy cells and electron charge packs near the radio.

Veronica ended up giving causing the table to jolt a bit as she hit it with one of her hands when she heard what Leon suggested. She muttered something to herself afterwards, which Leon took it as a sign that the hurdle blocking her process was cleared.

Veronica went back to tinkering with the radio and this gave Leon a moment to get up and leave since he was getting tired. But before leaving, he stopped to say, "Make sure to tell me if you get that radio working."

After that the Lone Wanderer left, leaving Veronica's tent as she just got the fission battery removed and replaced with the energy cells.

* * *

Today was feeling like a really long day that was not going to end soon, or at least that was what Leon was thinking at the moment. He just got back into his tent and decided to lay on his back on the bed to get some quick shuteye. The weird part to note was that Leon had on a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes as he tried to sleep.

The sunglasses did help Leon in his attempt to sleep, but what they also did was hinder his vision. And unfortunately, that ended up letting one particular person to get inside his tent without him seeing who it was. It also didn't help that the tent was dark due to all of the candles not being lit.

However, the person managed to make some noise after bumping into one of the piles of junk littered around Leon's tent. After hearing the loud noise, Leon woke up and quickly said aloud, "Whoever is inside my tent right now, you got 10 seconds to say who you are before I get up and throw you outside my tent."

"Hey! There's no need for that...besides, you promised we would talk about Curses 'later'...well, it most certainly is 'later', isn't it? Nyahahahah!" It was Henry.

Leon sighed to himself, before responding back with, "I believe I never promised that… but since you're already here...I guess we can talk about curses. Just let me get the candles lit up first before we get to talking."

A few minutes later, after getting all of the candles lit, Leon sat on one side of the table and Henry sat on the opposite side.

"So Henry, um...are all curses or whatever meant to be bad for the person afflicted with them?" Leon asked.

"Not all! In fact, the other day, I used a curse to help Lissa with some insomnia she was suffering! It's mostly about the intent behind it! There're curses for a LOT! Even body swapping!" Henry commented...before freezing… … ...and his smile seemed to grow wider, if that was possible…

After getting creeped out by Henry's smile, Leon retorted with, "Well.. If curses can be used for some positive benefit… that's good I think...However, I seriously doubt that you can swap bodies using a curse."

"Actually...I could do it right now!" Henry replied cheerfully.

Henry started chanting out some words and after he was finished, the whole tent was filled with smoke. The two of them starting coughing after they inhaled some of the smoke. Leon felt something happen with his body, but he thought it was due to the smoke.

While some of the smoke did clear, there was enough left around to obscure their vision.

"Henry...If you plan on trying to get me out of my tent by covering it in smoke, you really need to do a better… job… ...Where are my lucky shades?" Leon's voice said.

The smoke completely cleared out and Leon quickly noticed that his hands looked different… and that he was seeing his own body, except…. it had a rather familiar, yet creepy smile on it.

Immediately after he saw that, Leon checked to see what he was wearing and that was when he noticed that he was wearing Henry's clothes… and that his body started cackling…

Leon realized that Henry actually managed to swap their bodies…And Henry was in control of Leon's own body... which was not exactly a great thing to let happen on a second thought.

Leon (or who will now be referred to as Lenry for the time being) spoke up saying, "Henry… I admit you did a great job on proving me wrong, but I REALLY would like to be back in my own body now… before things get worse." while trying to avoid saying what was worrying him.

Henry (Or Heon to keep things simple at the moment) laughed before asking, "How could things go wrong? I mean, like this, you can use magic, and I can cause my enemies to blow up into bloody chunks!"

Lenry responded back with, "In case you forgot Henry, I don't know how to do magic and you don't know how to fight with my weapons... So, unless you plan on using my body to pull off a few pranks around camp… you'll be unable… to accomplish a lot…" He stopped talking after that last part after noting what he just suggested to Henry…

"Ooooo...now there's an idea…" Heon replied.

He quickly tried to leave Leon's tent shortly after saying that, but either due to luck or something like that, Heon had trouble leaving due to not being used to wearing sunglasses. This gave Lenry an opportunity to block the way and to keep Heon from leaving by using all of his strength to keep him back.

After a few minutes passed, Lenry, who was exhausted, said, "Look, Henry... Just give up already… I... I'm not letting you leave till...you tell me how to change swap back to our own bodies…"

"Alright...I can do it myself anyways...KA-BLAMMO!" Heon announced...and a moment later, Leon found himself back in his own body.

Leon remained quiet for a moment before he said, "Henry… can you do me a favor...Actually, you know what... forget about it."

"Ooooo! What were you gonna ask?"Henry retorted.

"...I was going to ask you what happened to you in the past before you met us back on that island…because you are probably the most "unique" person I met so far in my life that made things "more interesting"..." Leon said with a small hint of annoyment.

"Well, then...you better sit down, 'cause it is QUITE the tale!" Henry began.

"Uh… Henry, I can't listen to the tale right about now... I just remembered that Veronica needed me to bring her…" Leon looks around before he grabs a pilot light from one of the piles. "..One of these, for the project she… was working on. It was something about...I need to get going.." Leon mumbled nervously before he ditched Henry.

"Oh, ok! Maybe later!" Henry replied, before exiting Leon's tent and wandering off.

* * *

The smell of charred bear meat was wavering in the air around the Wastelanders' section of the camp. It didn't help that it was being moved around due to Travis carrying it along with him as he made his way to Cait's tent.

"Hey Cait, you in there?" Travis asked as he stood near the entrance to the tent.

"Leave me alone, Travis…I don't want to talk right now...", Cait answered in a somewhat bitter and sad tone.

Travis tried once again, this time saying, "Well… I guess that means I'll take this food I took from the Mess Hall I meant to give to you and leave…"

A second passed as Cait responded back with, "Just come in and leave the food on the table inside…"

Taking that as the sign to head in, Travis entered the tent. The first thing he noticed was Cait sitting on her bed with a rather gloomy demeanor. Travis placed the food he was carrying on the table and just stood still for a few moments, looking at the former pit fighter.

Cait looked up to see Travis still hanging around and remained silent as she look back down to the ground. She started muttering something quietly, which was, "I know why you did this… My attitude was… … … Just leave already."

"I'm not leaving so quickly. We really need to talk about…." Travis carefully said before he was interrupted.

"Stop talking and get out already before I force you out." Cait angrily stated.

Travis decided to ignore what she said, as he continued with, "As I was saying, we really need to talk because… whatever is causing you to act like yourself a year ago is not helping the people around camp think good things about you."

Cait remained silent after he said that as she continued to stare at the ground. Travis carefully moved towards Cait's bed and sit right next to her as he thought out what to say next.

Travis ended up saying, "I know how much your life in the past was terrible, but that was then and this is now. You got a friend that cares about you, despite the issues you face."

"I don't deserve a friend like that...I'm…too bitter to have anyone like that in my life…" Cait tearfully said.

"And that is where you are wrong. You changed a lot after I met you. I used to think that we would never work together due to our conflicting perspectives on life. You disagreed with me plenty of times, but there were still those moments I got to see the real you underneath that bitter shell. It told me that even if you hated a lot of the stuff I did that wasn't selfish or violent, deep down you liked it even when you say don't." Travis said as he looked at Cait.

Travis waited for a response, but the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the two of them breathing as they sat on the bed with time continuing to go by.

The Sole Survivor ended up leaving shortly after without saying another word. This left Cait to think about what he said to her and to reflect recent events.

* * *

The radio had a few lights on, but it still lacked the audio coming through the speakers. It had a working power source and the parts were put back together correctly… and it continued to not function correctly.

Taking a break from working on the radio (and to avoid smashing it with her sledgehammer), Veronica decided to take one box of snack cakes from her hidden stash and start eating its contents. But before she could even open the box, she heard someone enter her tent.

The former scribe panicked and threw the box back into the hidden stash as she saw who it was. It turned out to be Cait, carrying a small bag in one of her hands with a rather conflicted look on her face.

"Ummm... What brings you here, Cait?" Veronica asked as she tried to figure out why she showed up.

"I came by… to give these back to you." Cait stated as she moved towards Veronica and handed the bag over.

Veronica checked its contents and saw 25 bottle caps inside. This left Veronica in a confused state as she responded with, "Thanks for giving them back… but… Is everything alright? You seem to be acting more differently than normal recently…"

Cait retorted in a calm tone as she elaborated with, "I'm fine. I just got done talking with Travis. There was something he said that convinced me to… make up for what I did recently. Giving back your caps...was the first thing I wanted to take care of."

She stopped talking after that and turned to leave before Veronica got her attention. Veronica wanted to ask what Travis said to her, but given the way Cait was acting, it probably wasn't a good idea.

Instead, the words Veronica used were, "Before you go, don't you want to hear about what I know about the Brotherhood of Steel?"

It worked, because Cait stuck around to hear what Veronica had to say.

Veronica started explaining the very complicated story between herself and the Brotherhood. She started with the fact she was part of the Mojave chapter, which was isolated from other chapters around the wasteland. Then came the bit about the codex and what they believed in.

Cait made a snarky comment about the codex, which Veronica noted as when she continued on.

Veronica told Cait that the Mojave chapter clinged to the codex and how it brought them into a dilemma they faced. The dilemma being how would they react to people outside the Brotherhood.

The answer, which Veronica noted how much she disagreed with, was to go on lockdown and keep following the codex, despite the fact that continuing to follow it will be their downfall.

"So, what happened after the lockdown?" Cait asked.

"After that, I was assigned to leave the bunker and get supplies every now and then, which lead to me meeting Kyle. Like I said before, I tagged along with him and saw a lot of places that got me to think about my family. It also helped that Kyle had similar thoughts I had about how the Brotherhood should reinvent itself." Veronica stated before taking a deep breath.

"Long story short, I got Kyle to head back with me to convince the elder in charge to see about changing the codex. It didn't work and I asked Kyle what I should do with myself if I can't get them to change. He told me that I should be the one to decide. So, I cut ties with the Brotherhood and thought I could work in a outpost run by the Followers of the Apocalypse."

The name confused Cait, which was shown as she exclaimed, "Who are the Followers of the Apocalypse? They sound like they belong to a cult or something…"

Veronica had a thought about messing with Cait, but she went against it. Veronica ended up saying, "No, they are not a cult. What they actually are is a organization of doctors and scientists that work to provide aid in the Wasteland to hopefully improve people's lives. They worked hard to get the locals in the Mojave to appreciate their efforts. And with me leaving the Brotherhood, I thought I could help them out…"

Cait noticed the way Veronica spoke before she stopped. She carefully asked, "So, what happened after you joined them?"

Veronica sighed before she responded with, "I didn't join them immediately because the doctor in charge of recruitment was going to be back one day later when we showed up. Kyle said that we would come back then and get the process done. One day passed, and when we returned to the outpost... I... "

"What happened?" Cait asked, noting the look Veronica was giving at the moment

"I...saw a squad of Paladins inside the building where the doctors were using. It meant only one thing…They killed all of them… and it was all because of me. And...when they saw me and Kyle, they said that both of us were going to die. We did the only thing we could… and after it was over… I didn't know what to do. Kyle tried to make me feel better, but that was when I realized that the Mojave chapter was going to die out and I could do nothing to stop it." Veronica said while struggling to hold back tears.

The shock of that hearing that event got Cait to reel back. She followed up with one last question, which was, "But…Did you still plan on working with the Followers?"

Veronica continued to held back tears as she gave her answer, saying, "That was not a good idea. Those paladins knew what I did… which meant the entire chapter knew. It meant… I could not work for the Followers… or any other group if I stayed around in the Mojave. The whole ordeal… made me into a causeless rebel…"

It was safe to say that Cait quickly understood how painful it was for Veronica to talk about the Brotherhood. If she was herself a year ago, she would have insulted Veronica by calling her a idiot for expecting something different to happen. However, she trying to avoid being like that anymore, especially after her little chat with Travis.

"Look, I'm sorry for getting you to bring up those memories. If you want... I can tell about my past… and I'll do it...for free." Cait struggled to say that as she thought about going against what she said.

Veronica ended up giving a small smile as she pull herself together. "I appreciate that, Cait. I'll ask for that story another time…I need to get back to working on that radio over there."

The two Wastelanders stopped talking and went back to continue with what they doing for the rest of the day.

* * *

The Courier finally left the Mess Hall to go check on the scavenged items left in his tent. He started thinking about how much he missed hearing songs on the radio. It was one of the few things that living in the Wasteland tolerable.

Speaking of the Wasteland, Kyle ended up passing by Leon as he went back to his tent. Taking this as an opportunity to wax about his longing for music, Kyle turned around to talk to Leon.

"Hey Leon, You listen to the radio back in the Capital region?" Kyle asked as he caught up to Leon.

There was no response coming from Leon, which did make the Courier worry for a bit. Kyle asked Leon the question one more time.

It seems that the second time worked because Leon responded back with, "Oh, sorry Kyle. I do listen to the radio back home...Why did you ask?"

Kyle retorted with, "I kinda miss listening to the music ever since I got here, with the fact that I can't get any radio signals on my Pipboy."

Leon tried to cheer Kyle up by passing on some info saying, "Well, your pal Veronica is working on a radio right about now. It seems she was getting close to making it work."

The news did perk Kyle up a bit, which made him smile. His response was, "If she gets it to work, I hope the first signal she picks up plays some music."

Kyle followed up his response with a question to Leon asking, "What is your preference for music on the radio?"

Leon quickly thought out his answer saying, "My preference is anything that is mainly instruments, but I do have a soft spot for some songs with lyrics in them."

The Lone Wanderer was just about to question what Kyle's preference was, but he responded before he asked.

"I generally like songs with lyrics in them because they stick in my mind a lot longer than the instrumental ones." Kyle interrupted with before reminiscing about one of his favorite songs.

The Lone Wanderer and Courier continued their discussion by mentioning the radio stations they listen to back home. For Leon, it was Galaxy News Radio (Thought he did say something about how the person in charge of it stopped playing music for some reason…). For Kyle, he mentioned two stations, Radio New Vegas and Mojave Music Radio.

They were going to say their favorite songs, but due to the actions of a heavy armored friend of the Courier, Leon ended up getting dragged along the ground as the two quickly went to Veronica's tent leaving Kyle by himself.

Well… ... … … that was something. Normally, she did that to Kyle when he slept in a bit too late and refused to wake up. Guess whatever reason she did it for was important given how fast she went.

* * *

The Sole Survivor was in his tent wondering about how things were doing in the Commonwealth. It was considered to be in good hands, meaning it was safer than it once was a year ago, when raiders and other threats attacked a lot of settlements.

Then another thought showed up about the trip he took way to the west of Boston. That trip was very interesting to say at the very least, given what happened there. He made sure to avoid telling his friends since they would need to see where he was. And this happened before he ended up in this world he was in.

The thoughts ended as Kyle's voice entered the tent asking if he could head in. Travis spoke back saying he could enter.

As Kyle entered the tent, he noticed Travis lost in thought. There was the chance to ask Travis what was on his mind, but Kyle decided to ask something else.

"You listen to music, Travis?" Kyle questioned.

"Yeah, I do. Let me guess, you miss the ability to play music whenever you can on your Pipboy." Travis inquired.

Kyle just gave a look that said yes, prompting Travis to follow up with, "I'm in the same boat as you."

Much like with Leon, Kyle asked what Travis' taste in music was. His response was something among the lines of saying that he preferred anything as long as he thought it was good. Then came the station question, and the answer was Diamond City Radio.

Unlike like last time, there was no one to interrupt the discussion. This lead to Kyle and Travis saying what their favorite songs were. It took a while because they had to remember the names of the songs.

Otherwise, the conversation about radio continued on for a few more minutes till Kyle ended up saying he had to leave to get back to work on organizing the scavenged items still taking up space in his tent.

* * *

A few minutes passed and Travis thought about pulling out his copy of Red Menace and begin playing the game to relieve the boredom he was facing.

The sound of electronic game music filled the entire tent with the occasional jump sound effect going off every now and then. Just as Travis completed the third stage, a particular person walked inside his tent.

It quickly turned out to be Leon, but before either man could talk, a odd sound came from Leon's Pipboy. The two stopped what they were doing as Leon navigated his Pipboy's menu over the radio tab. After letting Travis be able to see what was going, Leon continued to mess around with the radio function on the Pipboy. What they ended up hearing stunned them.

A familiar voice that Leon knew was the first thing they heard.

" _ **HELLLOOOO CAPITAL WASTELAND! This is THREE DOG! I got the biggest news in 10 years. If you couldn't tell what it is, you been living under a rock because TODAY marks the grand return of GALAXY NEWS RADIO!"**_

" _ **Due to complications by the Brotherhood of Steel telling me to get off the air, I have been gone for 10 years. In that time, I met some fantastic people that got me put GNR back on. So, with a little bit of help and caps, I just got the right to be back on radio. Now, I can continue fighting the good fight."**_

" _ **Some of you older listeners may be saying to yourself, "Three Dog, it sounds like you are just going to do your show the same way you did 10 years ago. Don't you have anything new you can do?" My answer is yes, because in the first time ever on GNR, we we will be working with another radio station way to the north of the Capital. I'll let the person in charge of that place tell you about what I did."**_

Then there was another voice, this time it was familiar to Travis.

" **Hello Capital Wasteland, this is Travis "Lonely" Miles, coming at you from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. My good friend, Three Dog, has suggested that we work together by making our radio stations air on the same signal."**

" **For those who don't know, I run the Diamond City Radio at the great green jewel of the Commonwealth called Diamond City. A must see location if you ever plan to visit Boston."**

" **Of course, I need to address an identity issue that may arise. The name "Travis" also belongs to the man in charge of the group that saved the Commonwealth. I am of course referring to the man named Travis William, who is the general of the Minutemen and the hero who wiped away the Institute."**

" **To keep things simple, I'll refer to myself as Miles from now on. Now, onto our next news topic. If you thought this partnership was outrageous, wait till you hear what happened next. And just like Three Dog, I'll let the next person explain what is going on."**

Yet again, another voice spoke up, this time neither man knew who it was.

" _This is Mr. New Vegas. Speaking to you loud and clear from fabulous New Vegas. I got a request from Mr. Three Dog to be a part of this partnership and I thought it would be a great method to spread my charismatic voice beyond the Mojave. Time will tell if this will work out, but that's for you listeners to decide."_

" _I got additional news to cover for those in the Mojave. Rumors have started flying around that the man commonly referred to the Courier has gone missing. I don't know about you, but I think the rumors are false, since people are just trying to stir up something every now and then. One last word from Three Dog before we start playing the music."_

The man who called himself Three Dog started talking again…

" _ **Thank you, Mr. New Vegas. I also got a few rumors flying around about that kid from Vault 101. Yes, I'm talking about that kid again, the one known as the Lone Wanderer. Word is that he was last seen in Megaton before he supposedly disappeared. But Three Dog knows that the kid is out there fighting the good fight wherever he is. That is all to say on those rumors."**_

" _ **Now, for those wanting us to just shut and play the music, here is the music you all crave."**_

The duo was at a loss for words initially. After they heard music coming out of Leon's Pipboy, the camp suddenly went from quiet to very noisy. Travis and Leon started celebrating by cranking up the volume on their Pipboys.

* * *

The camp was not done with the sudden outburst of odd music. Besides the duo, Veronica was practically screaming in joy when she heard music coming out form her radio. Much like the duo, she turned that radio volume up to enjoy familiar music.

Of course, Kyle started hearing the music as well and he joined in by find the radio signal to get the music to play on his own Pipboy. He started crying tears of joy as the sound entered his ears.

Suffice to say, the Shepherds would eventually know each and every song from the three stations, even if they didn't want to.

End Chapter 9

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 ***Everyone in the studio hears something loud coming from outside the studio.***

 **Leon: "Why do I get the feeling that something weird is going to happen shortly?"**

 ***Amaris runs in, while Venat floats quickly behind her, Sagark and Kivat the 2nd flying with them***

 **Amaris: *panting* "Guys...Hurry! Run...or something...something's coming! Something...big!"**

 **Travis: "Great...Just great…" *Looks at Leon and Kyle before saying, "Can you guys help me carry Henry out just in case?"**

 ***Kyle and Leon agree and help Travis with picking up Henry, who despite all odds, did not come out the stunned state he was in.***

 ***After that, everyone in the studio left the building, initially leaving the camera behind. A moment of two passed before Cait showed up in front of the camera and unhooking it from its tripod before bringing it outside.***

 ***Another loud sound rings out way above in the sky.***

 ***Cait passes the camera over to Veronica as the camera catches something falling out of the sky.***

 **Kyle: "Am I seeing things correctly?"**

 **Leon: "Uh… …"**

 **Travis: "It looks like…"**

 **Cait: "What are you guys… seeing… ..."**

 **Veronica: *Says to IceBite, "Please tell me what I am seeing is not real." as she points out what she just saw.***

 **IceBite: "Cyborg blob with exposed brain and skeletal arms? Sorry...it's real…"  
**

* * *

 ***Veronica aims the camera at the scene taking place in the sky.***

 ***It seems that the giant alien or whatever it was trying to destroy something in its hands, which looked to be two small tanks.***

 ***The tanks were shooting with the vulcan guns on the tanks at the creature for some time until some wave of energy shot out damaging the tanks.***

 ***Back on the ground, Henry started moving around and the three Wastelanders stopped carrying him and let him stand on his own.***

 **Henry: "Say? What's going on?"**

 **Kyle: *Points to the creature in the sky, before saying, "That thing just showed up…"***

 **Henry: "What thing?" *looks up* "... … ...Oooooooo...I wonder how much blood that thing will spill once we kill it!"**

 ***Back to the fight taking place in the air…***

 ***The tanks continue to keep shooting at the creature before they both fired two cannon shells at the creature.***

 ***The shells hit the creature on its exposed brain and the creature starts spewing out green smoke as it starts losing its grip on the tanks.***

 ***The tanks get out of the creature's hands as it screams in pain until it stops. The creature ends up falling faster towards the ground.***

 ***Its corpse hits the ground pretty hard as the two tanks land on its brain, sending green blood flying a few feet away, almost hitting the group of onlookers.*  
**

* * *

 **Cait: "Well… that was something…"**

 **Veronica: "Is it me or are those tanks moving? "**

 ***The camera catches both hatches on top of the tanks open up… and Connor and MarkMartinMagma emerge from their own respective tank.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Notices the large crowd* "Hey guys! It's nice to see you again."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "... … ...Well...this is pretty far up there in the list of weird sights I've seen…"**

 **IceBite: "Agreed…"**

 ***MarkMartinMagma and Connor hop off the tanks and dead creature and join up with the group.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Sorry about the mess. We managed to run into Rootmars over there with the jet engine. He took us and threw us in his spaceship, and we escaped by using those two tanks over there."**

 **IceBite: "Rootmars?!"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "That** _ **thing**_ **had a name?!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Realizes that he forgot to introduce someone* "Oh... that's right. I forgot to introduce this fella right next to me. This is Connor Thomas, the new person joining us."**

 **Connor: *Noticing Emperor Mitchell before nervously saying, "For those who didn't meet me already... I'm here to replace Mark Zhots and Trevor Levon because they left for a vacation that MarkMartinMagma payed for.  
**

* * *

 **IceBite: "... … ...Alright… … ...by the way, Mark...you encounter the Inquisition yet?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Uh… no. I was dealing with Rootmars over there the whole time and never encountered them."**

 **IceBite: "Well...then I guess you should be getting some visitors just...about-"**

 ***Inquisition ships descend enough to be seen; troop transports land***

 **Deathwatch Captain: "WE HAVE TRACKED HIM BACK TO HERE! WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THE HERETIC 'MARKMARTINMAGMA'?!"**

 **Adepta Sororitas Canoness: "I believe that is him right there!"**

 **Grey Knights Terminator: "STRIKE HIM DOWN WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Looks at Ice* "Really dude? All of this for a dumb stunt I made you do?"**

 **IceBite: *shrugs* "I had a few favors with the Imperium of Man, you know, what with the whole 'in my free time, helping Emperor Mitchell in resurrecting the Emperor and letting him leave the Golden Throne to rule the Imperium personally' thing I did…**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "And your aid was most appreciated…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Well… at the very least, I can finally use this for once. *Pulls out a normal looking 45. Calibre handgun.***

 **IceBite: "... … ...Why do I have a bad feeling about that thing?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Has a giant smile on his face as he says, "Trust me, it's for them, not you. See you folks later, I'm going to have some fun!" After he finishes talking, he runs off towards the Inquisition firing as many rounds as he can.***

 ***After that, Connor get Emperor Mitchell's attention before nervously saying, "I apologize for what happened earlier… I messed up with my words, cause I meant to say that MarkMartinMagma told me to come here to meet you and everyone else since I'm filling in for Zhots and Levon."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *nods in reply***

 **Connor: *Still nervous as he says, "So… I'll see you later…I got to find where MarkMartinMagma placed my luggage that I sent to him before I showed up."**

 ***Connor leaves, looking for his luggage based on the directions he got***

 **Kyle: "I think I'm going to tag along with Connor and help him out. Is there anyone else who wants to do the same?"**

 ***The other Wastelanders and Shepherds, besides Henry, agree and head off with Kyle*  
**

* * *

 ***IceBite, Emperor Mitchell, and their creatures head inside, while Henry watches the battle between MarkMartinMagma and The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition***

 **Amaris: *turns to walk inside...only for a light to flash (also catching Venat's attention), and depositing a belt-like device on the ground. The device has an eye-like design to it, with a slightly ghostly-appearance.* "...Huh...what?" *picks up the device...only for it to wrench itself free and attach at her waist, startling her* "Wait, what the-" *another light flashes, depositing a white sphere with a blank grey circle in the center***

 **Venat: *floats over* "I believe you… … …" *takes the sphere, and presses the left side of the sphere, opening it up, exposing an 'S'-like symbol; he then opens the device on the belt, sets the sphere in the belt device, in a slot seemingly made for it, before closing it…***

 ***A flare appears in front...and some ghost that looks like a hoodie flies out***

 **Ghost Driver: "EYE! Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!" *keeps repeating ' Batchiriminā!'***

 **Venat: "Try...pulling that lever on the side…"**

 **Amaris: "Huh...oh...ok…" *nervously pulls the lever on the right side of the belt device***

 **Ghost Driver: "Kaigan: Ore! Let's Go! Kakugo! Gho-Gho-Gho-Ghost! GO! GO! GO! GO!"**

 ***A nearly-featureless bodysuit, with a completely-featureless grey mask, appears over Amaris in a flame. The Ghost-jacket thing, then flew around, and essentially put itself on over the bodysuit. The mask turns orange with 2 bug eye patterns on it, and a single, silvery horn coming from the forehead.***

 **Amaris: "Wha?! What?! What just happened?!"**

 **Venat: "Since coming to this studio and the world it's in, I researched some of the Kamen Riders and their gear...That is the Ghost Driver...and you have become Kamen Rider Ghost…"**

 **Amaris: "... … ...WHAT?!"**

 **Venat: "Come on...I'll explain inside…" *Venat and Amaris enter the studio…***

 **Henry: *still watching the fight; turns to the camera* "Hey! Silly readers! Unless you wanna watch the fight, it's time for you to go!"**

 ***Henry turns off the camera***

 **End Author's Notes  
**

* * *

 **Edit Log (Version 2.5): Added some minor changes... Wait, did I mess up the numbers again?  
**


	10. Chapter 10: The Silver Legend

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***The camera is still outside the studio. The surrounding area seems to be empty, void of the sounds of the battle from earlier.***

 ***Instead, the sound of a fishing rod's line getting reeled in removes the silence. The camera gets picked up and turned around to see a portal near a patio chair with a fishing rod tied to one of its arms.***

 ***Connor shows up in front of the camera before he sits down on the patio chair and removes the fishing rod from its bindings.***

 ***He casts the rod's hook into the portal and waits for something to happen to the fishing rod.*  
**

* * *

 ***The rod starts bending forward, which gets Connor to start reeling in the line very fast. This goes on for a few seconds until he ends up making his chair fall backwards as he yanks the line towards himself.***

 ***Connor gets the chair to stand upright and he notices the object he fished out of the portal.***

 ***The object in question was an old, stained leather boot.***

 ***After a quick sigh, Connor detaches the boot from the hook and throws it behind him.***

 **Chrom: *approaches with Maribelle from behind* "Hello. What are you doing here, anyways?"**

 **Connor: *Re-casts the line as he says, "I'm just trying to fish for whatever I can get out of this portal."**

 **Maribelle: "What do you even expect to find?"**

 **Connor: "Plenty of things. I don't know where the portal goes to, but I'm sure I'll find…"**

 ***The rod bends forward and almost pulls Connor out of his chair.***

 **Connor: *In an excited tone, says, "Whoa! Whatever I got on the line must be heavy. That means it has to be valuable!"***

 ***Connor starts reeling in the line, struggling for a bit as he tries to bring back whatever he got hooked.***

 **Connor: *Looks at Maribelle and Chrom before saying, "Either of you want to help me bring in what I got hooked?"***

 **Chrom: *sighs and moves to help***

 ***The two try to bring the line back in with a hard pull, almost losing their balance. They try another hard pull and manage to bring back the line from the portal.***

 ***However, what was attracted to the hook was not another old boot.*  
**

* * *

 **Connor: *Looking at what the hook landed on, "... … That's odd."**

 **Chrom: "Wait a minute…"**

 **Maribelle: "My word!"**

 **? #1: "Huh? Father? Mother?"**

 **? #2: "Ma?! Pa?!"**

 **Chrom: "Lucina?!"**

 **Maribelle: "Brady?!"**

 **Connor: "Great… Now I gotta go throw the line back into the portal and try again…"**

 ***Before Connor even moves, he gets interrupted.***

 **Maribelle: *holding her parasol as though ready to use it as a weapon* "And** _ **how**_ **did this happen exactly?"**

 **Connor: *putting his hands up, "How am I supposed to know? And you better not strike me with that parasol."***

 ***Connor looks towards Lucina and Brady, before saying "Uh… sorry about the hook bringing you two here… but I could use some help here with "Ms. Aggressive" over here"***

 ***Connor feels the back of his head getting hit with a parasol.***

 **Connor: "OW! Did you just smack me with that parasol?"**

 ***A few more smacks with the parasol follow from Maribelle***

 **Connor: "Okay, that was the last straw. You better be ready for a fight cause you just got one."  
**

* * *

 ***A bright flash occurs...as some kind of belt appears on Maribelle***

 **Maribelle: "What is this?!"**

 ***Connor: *To himself,** _ **Why do I get the oddest feeling I'm going to be in a world of hurt**_ **?"**

 ***A red robotic Rhinoceros Beetle flies in, before hovering in front of Maribelle***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "I am the Kabuto Zecter. Attach me to the Rider Belt."**

 **Maribelle: "Excuse me?!"**

 **Kabuto Zecter: "Grab me, announce, 'Henshin!', and attach me to the Rider Belt."**

 **Maribelle: "'Henshin'? You mean that quote Daniel says when he turns into Dark Kiva? Uhm...Very well…" *grabs Kabuto Zecter* "Henshin!" *Affixes the Kabuto Zecter to her new belt***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "Henshin!"**

 ***A digital pattern appears over Maribelle, as a suit of silver, black, and red armor, having heavy plating like a shell, and a single blue visor and a forked horn appears over her.***

 **Maribelle: "Wha-what is this-"**

 **Kabuto Zecter: "Displaying additional instructions on Heads Up Display."**

 **Maribelle: *silent for a bit* *uneasily* "...Very well…" *Bumps horn on Kabuto Zecter***

 ***The heavier portions of the armor rising up, detaching from the rest of the armor***

 **Maribelle: "Cast off!" *pulls the Kabuto Zecter's horn completely to the left**

 **Kabuto Zecter: "CAST OFF!"**

 ***The heavier armor portions blast off the rest of the armor, some of them slamming into Connor.***

 **Connor: *Recoils in pain as he says, "You got anything else besides that…"**

 ***The Armor is now mostly a black bodysuit with light red plating protecting the upper torso and shoulders; an extension that looks like a red Rhinoceros Beetle horn flips up and attaches to the helmet, giving the helmet a red Rhinoceros Beetle Horn separating the visor into two large, blue, insectoid eyes.***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "CHANGE: BEETLE!"**

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: "Hmmm…" *with more confidence* "Well, it appears you better be ready for a fight, because you just got one."**

 **Connor: *With a rather smug grin as the pain goes away, "If that's the only trick you got for that costume of yours, you are still going to lose. I'm going to be nice and give you one free shot. Better make it count."  
**

* * *

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: "...Clock Up…" *takes her right hand, and swipes something on the side of the belt***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "CLOCK UP!"**

 ***Maribelle/Kamen Rider Kabuto begins moving at near-light speeds, and uses that time to unleash a powerful barrage of punches and kicks, before...***

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: *still in Clock Up* *Presses the 3 buttons on the top of Kabuto Zecter***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "*first button* ONE! *second button* TWO! *third button* THREE!"**

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: *presses in the Zecter's Abdomen, and flips the horn back to the right* "...Rider...Kick!" *flips the horn back to the left, causing electricity to spark from the Zecter and the belt***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "RIDER KICK!"**

 ***Electricity travels up to the helmet's horn, then to the right foot, as Kamen Rider Kabuto whirls around and strikes Connor with a** _ **powerful**_ **Roundhouse Kick***

 **Kabuto Zecter: "CLOCK OVER!"**

 ***Explosion occurs where Kamen Rider Kabuto struck Connor, just as (for her) time returns to normal*  
**

* * *

 ***After the explosion, the only thing that could be seen is a large cloud of smoke. The wind blew it away, showing Connor on the ground face first, as he occasional fidgets due to the remaining electricity.***

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: "Oh my...I believe I could get quite used to this…"**

 **Connor: *Face still in the ground, "MAN, that hurts as bad as getting hit by a car going 100 mph head on." *Slowly picks himself up, breathing deeply a few times.***

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: "Well, you DID allow me to get the first hit in...As gentlemanly as it was...you have to admit it was rather foolish, when dealing with an unknown…"**

 **Connor: *Interrupts Maribelle by charging at her and headbutts her as hard as he can, knocking her to the ground, before responding with, "That's why I gave you the free shot, Maribelle."  
**

* * *

 **Kivat the 2nd: "Gaburi!"**

 **Sagark: "HEN-SHIN!"**

 **Ghost Driver: "EYE! Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā! Kaigan: Ore! Let's Go! Kakugo! Gho-Gho-Gho-Ghost! GO! GO! GO! GO!"  
**

* * *

 ***Above, the group can see IceBite, as Kamen Rider Dark Kiva; Amaris as Kamen Rider Ghost, and Emperor Mitchell in armor that resembled a cathedral's stained-glass artwork, with a mild snake theme, wielding an unusual-looking rapier, as well as having a blue glass-like mask with what looked like snake fangs coming off of it, and with a crown-like structure on the top of his head, thus marking him as Kamen Rider Saga.**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "Heard a new Kamen Rider joined the group!"**

 **Kamen Rider Saga: "And we find the new rider getting in a fight…"**

 **Kamen Rider Ghost: "Well...we riders have to stick together, right?"**

 **Connor: "Kamen Rider? That's probably the dumbest name I ever heard for whatever you guys are supposed to be. *To himself,** _ **"This is going to be bad…"*  
**_

* * *

 **The Kamen Riders: *Stare deadpan at Connor***

 ***Dark Kiva inserts some kind of whistle into Kivat the 2nd's mouth, Saga inserts his Jacorder into the side of Sagark, and Ghost pulls the handle on the side of the Ghost Driver out***

 **Kivat the 2nd: "WAKE UP 2!"**

 **Sagark: "WAKE UP!"**

 **Ghost Driver: "ORE! OMEGA DRIVE!"  
**

* * *

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: *looks at the other Riders, nods, and repeats the procedure from her previous Rider Kick* "RIDER KICK!"**

 **Kabuto Zecter: "RIDER KICK!"**

 **Connor: *In a very scared tone, "... … ...MOMMY!"*  
**

* * *

 **Chrom: *Turns to the reader* "Yeah! I don't think you want to see this!" *puts his hand over the lense of the Camera just as Saga's Jacorder stabs through Connor and Saga jumps up, lifting Connor into the air, as the other 3 Riders launch their Rider Kicks at him***

 ***End Author's Notes***

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Silver Legend**

 _ **(IceBite A/N: aka 'LET THERE BE HAM!')**_

 **At the Shepherds' Camp...**

The camp was initially peaceful, or at least in the sense that there was nothing making everyone tense. That didn't last as long due to one particular set of noises coming from a certain section of the camp.

The sudden noises either scared or annoyed any Sheperd that heard said noises, which quickly resulted in a certain Tactician going out on her own to see what was going on. As Aria made her way to the Wastelanders' section of the camp, she heard the odd noises coming from at least three tents.

After deciding on which tent go into, she went into the nearest tent based on her location. The tent she entered turned out to be Kyle's, because she spotted Kyle sitting on his bed listening to the noise, which seemed to be coming from that device on his wrist.

The noise started getting quieter after Kyle noticed Aria standing around in his tent. "Oh… Hey Aria. Did you drop by to talk about something?" He said, unaware of the reason why she was there.

"Yes, actually: much of the camp was just disrupted by some noises coming from this section of the camp...What exactly is going on?" Aria asked.

"Noises? … ...Oh. You must be referring to the music I been playing. Sorry about that...I really missed the music from our world…and when I heard something familiar, I turned up the volume on my Pipboy too high." Kyle responded with a bit of nervousness.

Kyle quickly turned off his radio, thinking things would go back to being quiet. It didn't work because he heard at least two different music songs playing beyond his tent.

"Guess I wasn't the only one playing my radio music too loud... I'll go tell the others to quiet down. You want to tag along, Aria?" Kyle asked as he tried to make out the songs he was hearing.

Aria nodded in reply.

With that nod, Kyle and Aria left Kyle's tent to head to see who else was playing music. After hearing which source was louder, they went to Travis' tent. Heading inside, they saw Travis and Leon sitting down on the ground listening to music. The two didn't notice Kyle and Aria standing nearby.

Kyle had to yell over the music as he said, "HEY! YOU GUYS NEED TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME ON YOUR PIPBOYS, THE MUSIC IS TOO LOUD! "

Leon heard Kyle speaking over the music, responding with, "WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT WITH THE MUSIC?"

Kyle sighed before yelling back with, "I SAID TO TURN THE VOLUME DOWN BECAUSE IT IS TOO LOUD!"

Travis stopped paying attention to the music as he heard what Kyle yelled out. He looked at Leon, who was still confused. Travis took a second to turn off his Pipboy's radio.

"HE SAID TO TURN YOUR RADIO VOLUME DOWN, LEON!" Travis yelled at Leon.

It worked because Leon turned off the music as he looked around to see Kyle and Aria. "Sorry, I was focused on enjoying the music. Did you two need to talk to me or Travis?"

Aria sighed. She was about to say something…until another source of loud music interrupted her. Noticing which direction it seemed to be coming from, she left the tent to get it to stop. The three male Wastelanders remained silent until Kyle left to catch up with Aria. Leon and Travis decided to follow along since they were curious about what Aria was going to say.

* * *

Veronica was inside her tent listening to the song playing on the radio. It was mainly instrumental and really catchy. The song started getting into a louder segment, which made it easy for Aria to enter her tent without catching Veronica's attention.

The music continued to play, and the former scribe continued to be lost in the music as Aria slowly got a bit irate. The trio of Wastelanders eventually caught up to Aria and noticed the radio playing music.

Kyle tried to yell over the music, but his voice was drowned out by the music. Leon and Travis tried to do the same, but they had the same result. Aria sighed and muttered to herself, "This thing better work…" She then pulled out a grey-colored tome and opened it up, producing a faintly-glowing orb inside it. Then, she shouted into the orb, "HELLO?! WE NEED TO TALK!" Her voice blasted forth, as though she were shouting into a megaphone.

The trio of Wastelanders didn't expect that and had to cover their ears as the amplified voice went throughout the tent. Veronica heard that over the music and immediately turned off her radio and then noticed the people inside her tent.

With a hint of worry in her tone, she said, "Uh… Are we under attack or...is there something else going on?"

Aria replied, "The music...it's too loud. If we were in Valm, waging war, right now, the Valmese could have found us in no time...Not to mention how the suddenness of the music, combined with the volume, rattled a good portion of the Shepherds, especially those with enhanced hearing…"

"Yeah… sorry about that. I was working on the radio trying to get it to work and then I suddenly got a radio signal from our world somehow… and I got lost enjoying the music. I'll keep it down next time." Veronica said as she looked at her radio.

Aria seemed about to say something...but paused. "...Wait...what do you mean by that?"

Veronica retorted with, "I mean that I'll keep the volume on low, so the music is not heard around the camp."

"No no no! I mean the 'signal from your world' part…" Aria corrected.

"Oh… that's what you meant. Umm… Like I said earlier, I got a radio signal from our world… but… I don't know how or why my radio is getting it here… I don't remember seeing any radio towers when we were on the move." Veronica stated as she wondered what could be going on.

"Well...that is certainly interesting...at least you can get news about how your world is doing," Aria commented.

Noting what Aria said, Veronica asked, "Speaking of news, did you guys hear anything else besides music? I guess I missed something, because I think I heard two different people say someone has going missing or something."

"Me and Travis overheard the part you missed. The first person to talk about somebody missing called himself "Mr. New Vegas" and he said that it was somebody called "The Courier". Then came Three Dog, the second man who said a person called the "Lone Wanderer" went missing…And the person he was referring to is standing in this room right now." Leon responded with as Kyle spoke up saying what was on everyone's mind, which was, "Are you implying that you are the.."

"The person known as the "Lone Wanderer"? Yes, I am. So, who are you really, Kyle?" Leon said as he looked at Kyle.

"If you care to know, I'm called "The Courier" where I come from. Around that part of the Wasteland, I'm considered to be the savior of the Mojave and New Vegas." Kyle stated as he looked back at Leon.

"And what about you, Travis? You got anything to say about this "Travis William" fellow I heard about by that "Miles" guy?" Leon asked without looking at Travis.

"I do, because my last name is William. So yes, I am Travis William, General of the Commonwealth Minutemen.

"Wait a minute...you're a General back from where you come from? That rank only belong to important leaders back in the Pre-War days…" Veronica stated as she tried to wrap around her mind on what she heard.

"If you think that's hard to believe, wait till I tell you something that will blow your mind." Travis half-jokingly said.

Kyle spoke up with, "I doubt that."

Travis took a deep breath before saying in a serious tone, "I don't tell this to everyone I meet, but… I'm actually someone who witnessed the day the bombs fell. It was October 23, 2077. I was living in my home when I hear the alarms go off. I had to flee to a nearby vault to survive. Except when I got there, they had other plans."

Travis continued with, "The vault was an experiment where they cryogenically froze anyone who was not Vault-Tec staff. I ended up being frozen for 210 years before I got out. If any of you are doubting what I say, then look at this."

He removed one of the gloves he was wearing, pulling off a ring he was wearing. The ring was held in one hand as he made sure everyone can see it.

Kyle ended up saying, "And what is so special about that thing you got?"

Travis responded back with in the same tone, "It's a wedding ring, an item that is the only tie I have left to the Pre-War days and it was part of an old tradition that does not happen anymore back in the Wasteland."

After he said that, the tent remained silent. His words were hard to accept, but… it made sense to his fellow Wastelanders.

* * *

Kyle and Veronica knew all too well about the fact that there was technology that extended someone's lifespan beyond what was normal. The man known as Mr. House, was the perfect case of that… until a change in management happened...

Leon, on the other hand, in his travels experienced plenty of odd people. It definitely got up there in terms of ridiculousness when he got abducted by aliens. That experience indirectly taught him one thing, which was that the process of cryostasis can work on humans...

Not to mention, they all knew what terrible events went on in the vaults around the wasteland. The one that Travis spoke of clearly fitted the quota expected from Vault-Tec.

However, there was one person who lacked those tidbits of information… She just remained silent, taking note to make sure to talk to the other Wastelanders besides Kyle. Especially Travis, since he seems to have quite an interesting past… much like everyone else in the room.

The discussion left everyone to be silent, which prompted Veronica to follow up with a question she was going to ask earlier.

"So…Besides that…You guys can pick up radio signals on your Pipboys, which means we can establish a radio channel for longer distance communication in case we need that. Hmmm… I wonder if it has to do with the way we got here…?" Veronica mused as she thought about the day they showed up in this world.

That caught Aria's attention. "Wait...These radios...they can be used to communicate... _both ways_?" Her eyes widened at that revelation.

"Yeah, that is what they were used for besides playing music all day. If I can get this channel setup, I could send a message to either of these guys from miles away and they would be able to respond back quickly without having to be near me." Veronica explained to Aria.

Aria thought a moment, before realizing something. "Wait...if you can use these things to communicate...and you're receiving signals from your home… … ...couldn't you just communicate with your home with them?"

Veronica sighed before responding with, "There's a problem with that. I... can't pinpoint where the signal is coming from. It keeps jumping around, but it does stick around long enough to let us get the signal. And for why its jumping around, I can't answer that… because there's no scientific reasoning to explain it."

"Oh…" Aria replied simply, "However...being able to communicate amongst ourselves could still give us an advantage...if you can make it so you're able to message each other, this could give us a HUGE tactical advantage over...well, anyone from our world we may come across: Bandits, the Risen, the Valmese, the Plegians (if they decide to turn against us before or after Valm is defeated), I don't think ANY of them have something like this available to them…"

Kyle interjected after Aria finished speaking, responding with, "Well... guess that means you should get to working on that, Veronica."

Veronica smiled back saying, "Yeah… I really should." She immediately started checking her notes, but stopped to say, "Uh…I can't work with everyone staring at me while I work... So, you mind leaving?"

Kyle, Aria, Travis, and Leon quickly left Veronica's tent after that and they splitted off to head back to their own tents.

From that moment onward, the sound of music coming from the Wastelanders' section of camp stopped for a bit. It came back after some time, but this time it was much quieter than before, much to the relief of some Shepherds.

* * *

 **A few days later...**

The next stop on the search for the future children brought the group to a hamlet far to the south of their previous location. The hamlet was really small, given that it only consisted of three somewhat big houses near each other from what they could see. The surrounding area and hamlet was covered in green grass, along with trees and a few fences.

Just as the group got nearby the small village, they saw a rather large band of brigands littered around. A lot of them were trying to break into the houses which were barricaded at their entrances with whatever was available. The remaining brigands were surrounding a woman, demanding that she talk about something about treasure.

Naturally, things got a bit worse as the leader of the brigands demanded that the woman should be slain for being "useless" in their hunt for treasure. Then came the unnatural event that followed.

A young man in a peculiar outfit, armed with a steel sword bolted from the north and got the attention of the brigands. He started giving off this ridiculous speech with a bombastic tone, which confused everyone listening to him.

Eventually, one of the brigands suggested that he would shut the young man up and got slashed with the steel sword the young man was carrying. The young man went back to talking, this time expelling something about justice… or love… or something like that. His confusing speech kinda got cleared up after he yelled out who he was.

The name he yelled out was Owain. His speech after that became confusing again, which allowed the woman being held hostage a moment to escape, which she did. The brigands decided to focus back on ransacking the village for treasure after the leader insulted Owain by saying something about rocks in his head.

That gave a cue for Aria to organize the group around to deal with the brigands after factoring in the location they were in. The pairs were Kyle and Aria, Travis and Cait, Leon and Veronica, with Dogmeat being by himself.

* * *

The massive fight started soon after that, with Travis and Cait running ahead to provide backup for the bombastic young man, who was fighting one of the brigands.

He seemed to be doing well until the sword he was carrying got knocked out of his hands by the brigand. The brigand was carrying one of those books that had a deep purple color and some odd circular symbol on it. But before the brigand could use it, he felt two painful sensations in his legs.

The pain got the brigand to the ground before he looked up to see Cait bashing his head with her shotgun. The brigand was done for after that.

Travis made sure to reload his silenced pistol and holster it as he tried talking to the young man saying, "Owain… Is it? Uh… are you alright?"

"Indeed, it is I, Owain, one who comes from a damned future to save his time from such an awful fate! And who might you be?" the young man replied.

"I'm Travis William. I'm from… the Commonwealth… and this is my partner, Cait." Travis said while also bringing Cait into the conversation.

Cait quickly whispered to Travis, " _I_ _hope he gets the idea to stop overacting or whatever he is doing…_ "

Travis noted her words, and decided to focus his attention back to Owain saying, "So… is there a reason why you are here?"

"These foul brigands seek to plunder this hamlet, so I made the decision to stand in their way and defend it!" Owain replied.

"This place? There's nothing around for miles and they decided to attack here...Either these morons are looking for something worthwhile or just attacking it to be cruel…" Cait commented.

"These brigands believe there to be a great treasure that rests in this village. Treasure or not, by the might of my Sword Hand, I will ensure they do not harm anyone here!" Owain declared theatrically.

" _Oh Great… here he goes again. Hey Trav, mind telling... Oh… I know that look… you better not do what I think you'll do…"_ Cait whispered to Travis as she noticed the grin he had on his face.

Travis took a deep breath before saying in a deliberately hammy tone, "IT SEEMS THAT YOU WILL NEED SOME HELP. THANKFULLY, THE SILVER SHROUD HAS ARRIVED! THESE UNKEMPT EVILDOERS SHALL KNOW THE MIGHT OF JUSTICE!"

"You know what, I'm going to let you be with "Mr. Theatrical" over here since I can't stand two blokes like you." Cait said before she ran off to get away from the two.

"So, my fellow bringer of justice! Let us show these brigands the error of their ways!" Owain declared.

"WE SHALL!" Travis said as he noticed two brigands attacking the house south of their position. "THE EVILDOERS STRIKE TO THE SOUTH! QUICK, WE MUST STOP THEM FROM COMMITTING MORE VILLAINOUS ACTS!"

"AND WE SHALL! BY MY TWITCHING SWORD HAND, LET THEM KNOW JUSTICE!" Owain shouted as he charged.

Travis charged as well, except he made sure to equip the odd-looking sword he had with him.

The two "Bringers of Justice" worked together to fight off the brigands that were attacking the home. After dealing with them, more came out from around various directions, but they ended up the same as their comrades.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

On the northern side, away from those two were the Tactician and Courier. Kyle was equipped with a sword instead of the guns he normally used. His reasoning was that his guns need a bit of a tune up, which was partly true. He really just wanted to use the sword he was carrying along.

The sword he was carrying was a Katana, which Aria mistook for something else.

"So, a Killing Edge then…" Aria commented.

"Uh… are you referring to this sword? Because that's not the name I know it as…" Kyle responded back with.

"Really? What're they called in your world?" Aria asked.

"They call them "Katanas" back where I come from. Apparently, the swords come from a country called… "Japan" I think. They were used by in combat a very long time ago before my time." Kyle retorted as he tried to recall the information he found in a old pre-war book.

"It sounds like this sword came from someone famous...that's what I gathered at least…" Aria replied, curious.

"From what I recall from the vendor selling it to me, it belong to some guy in the past who worked in some company or business called "Vimtando" in Japan. He worked in the United States and had the sword brought to his home. Then it was stored away and it was never seen again till the merchant found it under the rubble that used to be the guy's house. Since then, they held onto it, never finding someone to buy it till I came by. Or that's what he told me to get me to buy it…" Kyle stated.

"I see…" Aria replied, thoughtfully, "...Maybe we should get back to the fight…"

"Yeah… I think I see a few brigands heading for us." Kyle noted as he got ready to strike back if he had to.

The brigands spotted the two and two of the four charged Kyle, while the rest stayed back to attack Aria with their tomes.

The charging brigands tried to slash Kyle with a sword and ax, but they ended up missing. Taking advantage of that, Kyle pushed a button on his Pipboy and attacked back. The brigand with the sword went down first after Kyle slashed his torso with one attack. The ax-carrying brigand was next, but instead of getting slashed at his torso, he was hit elsewhere...

His head hit the ground first before his body caught up with him. With that taken care of, Kyle turned his attention back to Aria.

Taking to the air, Aria began firing off spells from a modified Thunder Tome at the enemies, occasionally switching to her more powerful Thoron Tome for more powerful enemies that saw their allies being picked off.

This continued on for a bit till the northern part of the battlefield was cleared of brigands.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Leon and Veronica were heading towards the middle part of the battlefield initially. They stopped in their tracks as they saw Cait heading towards them by herself.

Leon decided to ask the question on his mind, which was, "Is Travis all right, or does he need backup?"

"No, he doesn't need backup. I just ditched him because he was doing something really annoying voice that I couldn't stand." Cait said with a hint of anger seeping through.

Veronica retorted, "He's still alone, meaning he could be in trouble, especially with all these brigands around..."

Cait responded back with, "He'll be fine… That theatrical goofball we saw before the big fight started is with him as we speak."

Leon sighed quickly before turning to Veronica saying, "Do me a favor and tag along with Cait for the time being. I'll head off to find Travis and provide some back up for him."

Veronica just nodded back and Leon ran off to find Travis.

"Was it really that annoying?" Veronica asked Cait.

"If you want to know for sure, hang around him for a while later and then tell me if you find it annoying." Cait answered back.

The two Wastelanders stopped talking and focused on looking out for the enemy, which they spotted and charged at them.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Several brigands were in front of the barricade, trying to smash down the furniture blocking the entrance to the south west house in the area. They were getting close to breaking the barricade until the two ax brigands doing the brunt of the work stopped when they heard something.

They turned around to see the five comrades with them all dead on the ground with Leon standing not too far away. The ax wielding men charged Leon, unaware of the firepower he had in his hands. It was a plasma rifle, which was already ready to be fired.

Leon saw the two brigands charging at him and fired two shots at their heads. When the plasma projectiles hit their targets dead on, their bodies turned a bright green goo. The goo spread across the ground as their equipment lay above it.

With that small group of brigands defeated, Leon continued to search for Travis.

However, the search didn't take very long due to the fact that as Leon turned around, thinking a brigand was sneaking up behind him, it was actually Travis. Speaking of which, that "theatrical goofball" Cait was referring to was with him as well.

"Travis, I don't know what you are doing, but it better be something else besides hanging around here." Leon stated as he kept his eyes out for the enemy.

"WORRY NOT LEON! WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED HAS BROUGHT A NEW TOOL IN BRINGING JUSTICE TO THE EVIL THAT POISON THESE LANDS." Travis said in the most outrageously hammy tone.

"Indeed! With the might of Mysteltainn added to us, we shall purge the evil that infests these lands!" Travis' companion added.

"Can I see what this "Mysteltainn" is? It sounds like a really unique weapon to me...I know a thing or two about what makes a weapon special." Leon said as he looked at the duo.

"Of course!" Owain announced, before showing off the sword.

Leon quickly scanned the sword, noting the small details on the sword. The first thing that stood out was the color of the sword, which mainly was black, except for the hilt. The hilt had this white material on it. Other than that, Leon saw there was a name inscribed on the sword. It read "Missiletainn", which Leon made sure to say something about.

"So, uh…you...what's your name?" Leon deliberately said to Travis' companion to get him to say his name, since he didn't really know it at that moment.

"Ah, I am Owain! And you?!"

"Leon Scott… a friend of your partner in crime over there." Leon said in a somewhat dry tone.

"Owain, I hate to ask this, but how do you spell "Mysteltainn"?" Leon carefully asked.

Owain then...literally...spelled it out for him.

"Okay, Owain. I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, but this isn't "Mysteltainn". The sword has a name called "Missiletainn" with the "ystel" part being replaced with "issile". Also, besides some cosmetic differences, this SEEMS to just be a decorated steel sword." Leon carefully noted as he pointed out what he was talking about.

Leon quickly followed up, "Mind you, That's what someone would say if they based the quality of stuff by appearance. I don't know if it's just me, but I get this vibe coming from the sword. The vibe is telling me that, while this is not the sword you think it is, this sword is greater than any steel sword out there in the lands. In fact, it may be the greatest steel sword ever made.", as he said that in a inspiring tone.

"So you mean...my weapon be not a weapon of legend...but a new weapon awaiting its legend? THEN LET IT BE A LEGEND WORTH REMEMBERING!" Owain announced.

Soon after that, the trio heard a voice coming from nearby, one that sounded it like belong to the leader of the brigands. They tracked down the voice to find the leader giving orders to a few of his cronies, which Leon responded with by shooting the men with his silenced pistol.

That spooked the brigand leader and made him look around to see who just slain his underlings. He spotted Leon, Travis, and Owain and started firing with the bow he was carrying. The arrows almost ended up hitting the trio, but they dodged the projectiles as they flew by.

Leon reloaded his pistol quickly before he aimed his next shot at the bow. The bullet hit the bow and the shrapnel continued onward to force the man to drop the bow. The bow-less leader pulled out a steel sword he had on his back and started charging to attack.

This allowed Travis to do the same and when they were in striking distance, the two men managed to get their swords to block each other. Travis followed up with a quick punch to the brigand leader's face and then he went further and slashed the arm holding his opponent's sword.

The pain quickly caught up as the leader fell down, without any weapon he could use nearby. He was still alive, but it wasn't going to last for long.

"YOU HAVE MET YOUR MATCH, CRIMINAL! DO YOU HAVE ANY LAST WORDS BEFORE JUSTICE DELIVERS HER VERDICT?" Travis bombastically said as he started the man down.

"I...do… LEARN TO SHUT UP ALREADY!" The man said as he got up quickly to try to punch Travis in his face.

Unfortunately for the brigand leader, his fist just stopped short of hitting Travis. He felt something inside him and that was when he noticed the black-colored sword in his gut. Then he noticed the young man that was the owner of said sword.

"At last, you face Justice, Brigand!" Owain declared.

Then the sword was pulled out of the Brigand's gut, causing the vile man to fall on his back. The damage done made his eyes close for the last time.

The battle died out after that and the looting of the battlefield began. Travis told Owain to head east of where they were to go met up with the Shepherds by himself. Owain questioned why and Travis just said that he needed to stick around with Leon to see if they can find anything worthwhile on the brigands.

Owain looked a bit confused, but he eventually left to do as Travis asked. Some time passed, and the Wastelanders, besides Kyle, met up before catching up with the Shepherds.

Kyle and Aria were talking about how the battle went, which was well given the fact no one got injured, when the band of Wastelanders showed up with the equipment they gathered. But before they could even speak, a troublesome situation interrupted them.

The sound of Lissa screaming got everyone to stop and notice that they may have celebrated a bit too early. As they located where the scream came from, they spotted Lissa being threatened by a brigand to give up all the money she had on her. Thankfully, Owain intervened and struck the brigand down.

What followed was a conversation between the two, which end up getting a bit awkward due to Owain's theatrical acting. Of course, that didn't stop the fact that they heard Owain call Lissa his mother, which cemented the fact that the group found another person from the future.

Kyle made a quick comment out loud, which was, "I'm starting to see a trend forming... And I think it's just going to get more "interesting" as time goes on…"

End Chapter 10

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 ***Chrom removes his hand covering the lense on the camera***

 **Chrom: *shocked* "...Did he…?!"**

 **Lucina: "But how...?!"**

 **Brady: "How'd he…?!"**

 ***The camera catches Connor in the process of getting back up, despite what just happened to him.***

 **Connor: *Looks at the Kamen Riders in front of him, "I got to admit, that really hurts. If I was a normal man, I would probably not be here anymore." *His tone changes to something more sinister as he says, "Too bad for you guys… cause I'm no** _ **normal**_ **man."*  
**

* * *

 ***Connor starts forming a fireball in one of his hands and it gets rather large...***

 **Connor: *With the same tone, "** _ **MY TURN!**_ **"**

 ***But before Connor could launch the giant fireball towards the Kamen Riders, a familiar face runs up in front of Connor.***

 ***It was MarkMartinMagma.*  
**

* * *

 **MarkMartinMagma *Flicks the fireball with one of his fingers, launching it away into the distance, causing it to break up.***

 **Connor: "What are you doing? I'm…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Interjects with, "Going on a express flight right about now." *Grabs Connor by his legs and starts spinning him round and round.***

 ***Mark continues to spin faster and faster until he lets go of Connor, sending him flying past the Kamen Riders.**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Note to self; implement some rules about getting into fights…" *Notices the Kamen Riders* "Oh hey, how are you guys doing?"**

 ***They remain silent***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Ice, you mind explain what was going on?"**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "Huh? Oh, right! Well, when myself, Emp, and Amaris got here, we found out that Maribelle became Kamen Rider Kabuto, and had gotten into a fight with Connor…we don't know why, but we decided to jump into help her out… … ...and the sonuvabitch took 3 RIDER KICKS, AND Kamen Rider Saga's Snaking Death-break, yet still kept trying to fight…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Until I came by and took care of him." *He looked confused as he said, " Uh… Which one of you is Maribelle?"**

 **Kamen Rider Kabuto: "That would be me…" *de-Henshins***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Be honest with me. Did you start the fight with Connor?"**

 **Maribelle: "He somehow fished mine and Chrom's children out of a portal, which got me suspicious. I showed my parasol, hoping it'd give some incentive to explain himself...instead he insulted me, so...I may have hit him with it once… … ...or twice, after he shouted at me…".  
**

* * *

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I assume after that, you got that rider form you were in during the fight."**

 **Maribelle: "Only after he claimed that we were fighting at that point...my strikes were purely disciplinary in nature…At that point, I needed to defend myself."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: " I am repeating myself, but just to be sure, you hit him first, not the other way around, right?"**

 **Maribelle: "I was already on edge, and that insult set me over it...so yes, but only after provocation…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Well… you really should have tried to talk it out instead of duking it out."**

 **Aria: *walks in* "Well, when her annoyance levels reach beyond a certain point, Maribelle's way of solving problems tends to be at the end of her parasol." *chuckling***

 **Maribelle: *eye twitches***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Notices the eye twitches* "Well… Maribelle, I hope you work on resolving things better in the future… As for now, you got to face the consequences of your actions."**

 **Maribelle: "And...what would that be?"  
**

* * *

 **MarkMartinMagma: "This" *Pulls out a Tranq pistol and fires a Tranq round at Maribelle, hitting her in the head and knocking her out.***

 **Chrom: "What the-"**

 ***Chrom gets Tranqed as well.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Awkwardly laughs before saying to Brady and Lucina, "Uh… I'm sorry about knocking out your parents… I only met to do that to Maribelle, but I panicked and my reflexes got the better of me..."**

 ***Lucina just about advances, but Brady stops her***

 **Brady: "However they WILL wake up...right?" *asks with eyes narrowed***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "They will wake up… the tranquilizers inside them should wear out in a few minutes and they will be FINE after they wake up…"**

 **Brady: *turns back to Lucina* "There, ya see, they'll be fine…"**

 **Lucina: *calms down...if only a bit* "...Very well…"**

 ***The remaining Kamen Riders de-Henshin***

 **IceBite: "Maybe we should...take these two elsewhere, so they're not in the middle of the floor?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Yeah, that sound like a good idea. Hey Amaris, how about you help Lucina and Brady here get their parents move their parents somewhere else?"**

 **Amaris: "Alright…" *Helps the kids get their parents out*  
**

* * *

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Looks at Ice and Emperor Mitchell* "So, one of you decided to call the Inquisition on me. I'm betting both of you are thinking what happened since I charged off to fight them, right?"**

 **IceBite: "Yeah. I thought you'd be...I don't know...more beat up…"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "They put up a fight, but I ended up winning initially. And no, I didn't kill any of them."**

 **IceBite: "Then...where were you?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I thought they surrendered after I beat them. The moment I turned my back on them, they jumped me and decided to interrogate me aboard one of the ships.**

 **IceBite: "What'd they do? And how'd you get out? And which Ordo was it anyways that took you?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "They tried to do something they called the "Nine Actions". They went through each one by one, but I think whoever was in charge was doing a terrible job. At the end, everyone in the room besides me was going nuts. They let me go after that, saying that they will never bug me again because It was not worth the resources they wasted dealing with me."**

 **IceBite: *silent shock***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "Lucky as hell we're on Terra~..."  
**

* * *

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Looks around to see that Aria was still around before turning his attention back to the two Daniels***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "So, who wants gets sent flying first?"**

 **IceBite: "Huh?"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "What're you talking about?"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "I'm going to send you guys flying because of the things you did to me or my associates. For you Ice, it's for sending a Inquisition after me for trying to make you to experience some thrills."**

 **IceBite: "THROWING ME IN A SHOPPING CART ATTACHED TO A JET ENGINE WAS 'TRYING TO MAKE ME EXPERIENCE SOME THRILLS'?!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Shakes his head saying, "You have to admit it was somehow a bit fun.", before grabbing iceBite and repeating what he did with Connor.***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "Okay, you're next, Emperor Mitchell.**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "And why me?" *asked as he transformed into his Great Beast Form***

 **MarkMartinMagma: "You terrified Connor when you chased down in that dragon from of yours."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "Hey! If you heard what he said, you'd agree it sounded like he badmouthed the lot of us!"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: "True, but he didn't intend to badmouth you. I told him to remain silent about himself and what he was here for till I met up with him."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "And I was supposed to know this at the time** _ **HOW?!**_ **"**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *shrugs before replying, "Look… the point I'm trying to make is… that... you messed up the introduction I was going to give for the guy and you got to pay the price for that… even if seems stupid beyond all reason."**

 **MarkMartinMagma: *Grabs Emperor Mitchell (somehow) and spins him round and round until Mark throws in the same direction he threw IceBite.**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *As he soars away, "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"***

 ***MarkMartinMagma leaves shortly after that, leaving Aria to be the only person around.*  
**

* * *

 ***Kyle wanders in, seeing Aria by herself.***

 **Kyle: "Everything all right, Aria?"**

 **Aria: "Oh, yeah...just...a LOT of strange stuff...not to mention we should expect Emperor Mitchell to pull something drastic in payback against Triple-M…"**

 **Kyle: "Triple-M? Oh…you mean MarkMartinMagma."**

 **Aria: "Basically...just watch your head for a bit around here, ok?"**

 **Kyle: "I'll keep that in mind… Did anything else happen?"**

 **Aria: "Well...Lucina and Brady arrived…Connor fished them out of a portal, apparently...and one thing led to another, and Maribelle's now a Kamen Rider, and all the resident Kamen Riders quadruple-teamed Connor…He was ultimately beaten by Triple-M, though...then, due to her technically starting the fight, he tranqued Maribelle...before reflexively tranquing Chrom when he reacted. Amaris, Lucina, and Brady then carried the two out of here… … ...come to think of it, Amaris is the only one of the known Kamen Riders to not either be tranquilized or thrown off into the sky..."**

 **Kyle: *Struggles to come up with anything to say about what he heard. He ends up saying, "Man, it seems a lot of people around here these days are going to be Kamen Riders or something else. *  
**

* * *

 **Aria: *sheepishly* "Well...guess you should add another Kamen Rider to the mix…" *pulls a portion of her cloak aside, revealing a strange belt with a hand-shaped buckle***

 **Kyle: "So…Did you find that on your own or did IceBite give that to you?"**

 **Aria: "I found it...but it was actually Venat that told me how it worked…" *She pulled out a ring with a design similar to the hand-shaped buckled, and placed it on her right hand, before placing it in front of the buckle***

 **? Driver: "DRIVER ON, NOW!"**

 ***The belt suddenly has silver and black components surround the buckle, the belt thickening***

 **Aria: *She flips a switch on the Driver.***

 **? Driver: "SHABADOOBI! TOUCH TO HENSHIN! SHABADOOBI! TOUCH TO HENSHIN!"**

 **Aria: *She places another ring, this one with an orange gem on it, with strange designs on it, on her left hand; she flips what looks like some kind of visor over the gem* "Henshin…" *she places the gemstone ring in front of the Driver***

 **? Driver: "CHANGE, NOW!"**

 ***A magic circle appeared in front of Aria, and crept towards her, washing over her, until she was clad in white robes, over a white suit with gold trim. She had a white hooded mantle with gold trim on her shoulders, and an orange gem-like mask, in the same shape and design as the ring, the rest of the helmet hidden by the hood. There were also a pair of straps on her chest, holding other Wizard Rings.***

 **Kamen Rider Wiseman: "So...what do you think?"**

 **Kyle: "I'm...not sure what to say. I...still don't get this whole "Kamen Rider" thing… And I keep forgetting the names…"**

 **Kamen Rider Wiseman: "Uhm...well, I find it easy to keep track of them...really, we mainly just need to keep track of the ones we actually have in our group: I'm Wiseman, Maribelle is supposedly Kabuto, Amaris is Ghost, Emperor Mitchell is Saga, and IceBite is Dark Kiva…"**

 **Kyle: "I'll probably have to write down those names… Well… except for yours, Aria. The name fits you well...I think."**

 **Kamen Rider Wiseman: "Oh, uhm, thank you…"**

 **?: "GREETINGS! WOULD YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW WHERE EMPEROR MITCHELL IS?!"**

 ***Kamen Rider Wiseman and Kyle turn around, and see a towering, power armored figure***

 **Kamen Rider Wiseman: "... … ...This is going to take a while…" *Turns towards the camera* "We'll...see you next time in...whichever story gets updated…" *Turns off the Camera***

 **End Author's Notes  
**

* * *

 **Edit Log (Version 2.9): Wait...what happened to the 1.0 Version?  
**


	11. Chapter 11: Mansion and Dragon

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***Kyle and Aria are standing in front of the camera, with mock scripts in their hands.***

 **Kyle: *Unaware the camera is on, "So, you got your lines for the show done?"**

 **Aria: "I believe so…" *turns back to look at everyone panicking* "...They seriously need to stop sooner or later…"**

 **Kyle *Reading his script, "And Triple M needs to write his scripts in advance in case something like this happens…"**

 **Aria: "From what I learned of IceBite, he seems to just try winging it...probably why there were never any scripts in the first place…"**

 **Kyle: "Hmmm... We can try that." *Crumbles up the script into a ball and throws it behind him* "You should probably do the same, Aria."**

 **Aria: *nods; tosses script into air and scans Explosion Ring***

 **White WizarDriver: "EXPLOSION, NOW!" *Script blows up***

 **Aria: "Alright...so...to start this off…"**

 **Kyle: *Notices the camera was on, recording what they did* "Uh… START THE CHAPTER!"**

 ***Chapter 11 loading… loading…***

 ***Loading done.***

 ***Chapter 11 Starts***

 **End Author's Notes**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Mansion & Dragon **

**A few hours later…**

 **At the Shepherds' Camp**

After setting up the camp a bit to the west of the small hamlet, Everyone was working on the tasks (or was ignoring them, in the case a few people) assigned to them.

A long list composed of weapons, armor, and other associated valuables was sitting on the wooden table. The Courier was double checking the list making sure it was right and after finishing his quick scan, picked up the paper with his hands. The next step was to head on over to deliver the list...

But just before he left his tent to meet up with Aria, an idea popped inside his head. Turning around, Kyle found the pile of magazines he left on the other table in his tent. After getting at least 2 or 3 of each type of magazine placed in a stack, Kyle placed the list on top and left his tent. He had a bit of trouble keeping the stack from toppling as he made his way…

After taking his time carefully navigating through the camp, Kyle ended up in front of Aria's tent. As always, he spoke up asking if it was alright to head inside, and Aria responded back saying he can head on in.

Kyle entered the tent, noticing that Aria was reading a report, most likely about the battle they just got back from. He then placed his stack of reading material on the table and quickly spread out the stack, making sure each one could be seen. The list, however was placed on top of a magazine that was in the middle.

With that taken care of, Kyle quickly said to Aria, "I'm going to be right back, I need to go get two other things for something I want to talk about." while he left the tent.

Aria just watched him leave, before turning her attention to the Skill Magazines. After thinking a moment, she grabbed the magazine on the top, 'Future Weapons Today', and the one under it, 'Patriot's Cookbook', and started reading the first magazine and the report.

As she was reading, Kyle entered back into the tent and placed Leon's Plasma Rifle and Travis' Laser Musket down on the table, near the magazines. The Plasma Rifle was missing a Microfusion cell where it would normally be to make the gun fire.

Kyle also took the time to bring up his Pipboy and take his Gauss Rifle out of storage. Once it was in his hands, he ejected the Microfusion cell already in the gun and pocketed it. After that, he placed the rifle next to the other pair of energy weapons.

His attention quickly changed to Aria, who was still reading the report and magazine.

"Hey Aria, I appreciate the fact that you have a knack for reading, but I need your attention for just a moment." Kyle said as he looked at Aria.

Aria looked up from her reading material. "Alright...what is it?" she asked.

"I... originally was just going to come by to deliver the new list of equipment we scavenged, but I decided to also bring these.." He said as he pointed towards the energy weapons on the table.

Aria looked over the weapons in question. "I see...these are some of your group's weapons, aren't they? Why did you bring them?"

"I brought them along because while I did give you some information regarding the "normal" guns we use, these ones are way different." Kyle said as he decided which gun to use in his explanation.

Kyle decided on the Plasma Rifle and after he picked it up, he started saying, "Take this one for example. This is a typical Plasma Rifle that can be found back in the Wasteland. What it does is fire these green spheres of energy called Plasma at whatever this thing is pointed at. If they hit something or someone, the Plasma burns the target and does damage that way. It's like sending a fireball at someone, except the Plasma is way hotter and it could turn a person into a puddle of green goo..."

"...Alright…" Aria replied, a bit wide-eyed at that description.

Kyle placed the Plasma Rifle back down and picked up the Laser Musket. He continued with, "So, this rifle is called a Laser Musket. While I'm not familiar with this particular weapon… I do know a lot more about what type of weapon it is. It is an energy weapon, much like that Plasma Rifle, except this one fires Lasers. Lasers... are like… um… those beams of lightning you use when you have those yellow tomes. Except instead, they are mainly red in color and travel faster than the Plasma spheres and damage things. Oh...and they have been known to occasionally turn people hit by them into red ashes."

"I see...sounds like what happens when I put too much power into one of my Thoron Blasts…" Aria replied.

Kyle continued on, this time placing his Gauss Rifle in his hands as he said, "Here's the last weapon I'll talk about. While Lasers and Plasma take up a good chunk of energy weapons you can find, this particular type is harder to find than the two types I mentioned. This is a Gauss Rifle, which uses these coils inside it to launch a energy blast at an incredibly high speed. Normally, when the target gets hit by something going that fast from a weapon like this, it usually does enough damage to end the fight. Except… if the target is wearing some really good armor, then it'll be less effective…"

Aria replied with, "Or if they're something like a Risen Chief...I believe that's the weapon you tried to take one down with, is it not?"

Kyle did a sort of half smile, as he said, "Yeah… It's the one I used to try to take down that Chief… Which I still can't believe it survived taking a round that struck his head dead on..."

"But… back to the topic. Let's see… Oh… These energy weapons generally act like normal guns because they require ammunition to work. However, unlike bullets, energy weapons need these little battery objects called cells. These "cells" store power and are used to activate the weapon to make it fire. Here's what one of these cells can look like." Kyle said as he handed over the Microfusion Cell he had to Aria.

The cell was mostly yellow, although one end was black. It had a plus symbol on the black part, and a minus one on the other end. There was also a pair of red arrows pointing to the black part, on the yellow part, and on it were the words 'Warning May Explode if Disposed of in Fire'.

"So...this powers some of those weapons?" Aria questioned.

"Yes… but only the energy weapons we have with us. Those cells can't be used with normal guns because they aren't built to work with them. In a way, those cells are like bullets because there are certain types of bullets that can only be used with particular guns. The cell you are holding in your hands is a Microfusion Cell, which is only made to be used on energy rifles, which is what we have on the table." Kyle clarified, hoping that it answered her question.

Aria nodded. "Makes sense…"

What happened next was that Kyle picked up the Plasma Rifle and pointed out where the Microfusion cell goes to power up the gun and demonstrated how to insert and remove it. He did the same for his Gauss rifle, but then came the Laser Musket.

Kyle thought the Musket had a slot for a Microfusion cell to be placed, but after he looked it over, he got stumped at how it was supposed to work.

Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "Let me see it for a moment…"

Kyle handed the Musket over to Aria and let her scan the weapon. It was a box, shaped weapon, with a stock like the other rifles the group, and an extension coming out of the front. She then noticed some kind of crank on the side. She looked at the crank, then toyed with it a bit...turning it once caused some kind of energy surge on the inside. "Hmmm…" She turned to one of the targets she had stored, that had a couple scorch marks on it.

Kyle wanted to question Aria why she had a target inside her tent… and how it ended up with a bunch of scorch marks, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

Aria took the device, turned the crank a couple more times, the glass part of the laser musket beginning to glow, then she aimed it at the target...and pulled the trigger. A lance of red light shot out from the weapon, striking the target. Aria smiled. "Well...I think I may have discovered how it works…"

"Good...You…figured it out before I could… … ... Uh, would you like to try the Gauss Rifle?" Kyle tried to say following what happened.

Aria nodded, still smiling.

Kyle quickly exchanged the Laser Musket for the Gauss Rifle and handed it over to Aria.

"Okay, so if you want to get a better look on the target, look through the scope and aim the rifle accordingly." Kyle instructed.

Aria nodded, looking into the scope, and pointing it at the target.

Kyle continued talking with, "Next, before you pull the trigger...-"

His words got interrupted by the sound of the Gauss Rifle firing and the target it was aimed at getting obliterated. The next thing he saw was Aria falling on her back, not expecting the recoil of the rifle.

Quickly moving to help her up, Kyle quickly said, "...You should make sure to brace yourself for the kickback or recoil when you do decided to pull it."

"...Good to know…" Aria commented, a little shaken, her voice sounding a bit strained.

"Are you going to be alright? Or do I need to get someone just in case?" Kyle asked, worried that the recoil may have done some damage.

"...I'm fine…" Aria stated, "...Just give me a moment…"

Kyle helped Aria to rest on the nearest chair. As she took a moment to catch her breath and recover, Kyle grabbed the two magazines Aria picked out and his list of scavenged items.

He pulled another nearby chair and sat down, first looking at the "Future Weapons Today" and then the "Patriot's Cookbook". He quickly looked at Aria before returning to the magazines.

"Well...it figures that this magazine on energy weapons helped you understand how they work. As for the other one you picked out… I'm just going to spoil it for you and say this one isn't a recipe book for food." Kyle stated as he quickly flipped through both magazines.

"I had a feeling…" she replied, her voice a little less strained.

"What this "Cookbook" magazine actually talks about is making things called bombs and grenades. In short… they use various chemicals to make a chain reaction that results in a explosion. Depending on what is used, they can be very small or very large and be extremely dangerous. Thankfully… I don't think anyone in my group owns anything "bomb or grenade" like in the camp." Kyle said as he thought about the stuff his group has.

Aria nodded. "Good to know…"

"Actually… No, I'm forgot one little thing. That Microfusion Cell I showed you can explode if it gets set on fire, or if the battery itself gets damaged while inside a energy weapon. If either of those happen, the best thing you can do is to throw or dispose of the cell as best you can before it goes off." Kyle said as he remembered a time he heard something like that happened in the past.

"So, if we ever need improvised explosives, we have a means of accomplishing it…" Aria commented…

Kyle placed the two magazines back on the pile, and handed the list in his hands to Aria.

Aria looked over the list, before one item on the list got her attention. "Blue-ish version of-..." She started digging through her desk, before pulling something out. "Was it something like this?" she asked, before pulling out a silvery gyroscope-like item with a blue sphere for a core.

Kyle looked at the gyroscopic object for a bit. His response was, "Yeah... Travis said he found one as he scavenged the last battle...Let me guess, it's a variation on those seal thingamajigs."

Aria nodded. "Yes: that's a Second Seal. It's like a Master Seal, except instead of making someone better at the role they're already performing, it lets them have a shot at taking on a new role: for example, I used a Second Seal to ready myself to learn how to become a Pegasus Knight, a short time after I'd used a Master Seal to upgrade my initial abilities…I'd since used a Master Seal to grant me the skills needed to become a Dark Flier, my current role...or 'class', I guess you could say…"

A question formed in Kyle's head and after he thought it over, he said to Aria, "Didn't you say something about how the seals probably wouldn't work on people from our world?"

"I don't entirely know, actually...it was a possibility, though…" Aria replied.

"Well… If you don't mind, I'm willing to test it out for the sake of knowing one way or another. Besides, I still have the one we scavenged to replace this one in case it does work." Kyle suggested.

Aria thought for a moment, before deciding, "...Alright...Let's have a look, then…"

After handing the Second Seal over to Kyle, Aria explained how to get the seal to work. Following her instructions, Kyle waited for the seal to do its job.

Unfortunately, nothing happened…The seal didn't do anything, which prompted Kyle try doing it one more time. And… the results were the same, the seal still did nothing.

Handing the seal back over to Aria, Kyle just sighed in disappointment at the fact that he wasted his time trying to get it to work.

"...It...looks like it won't work…" Aria replied, seeming a little disappointed.

"And… based on that… It probably would do the same thing if we tried it with my fellow Wastelanders… At the very least, you don't have to waste any seals on my group." Kyle mostly said with the same deposition, save for his comment at the end.

Suddenly, as if one of those imaginary light bulbs went off on top of Kyle's head, his expression quickly changed. It went from one of disappointment to one of realization while Aria saw that transition happen.

"...What are you thinking?" Aria asked.

"Something that I wanted to do for a long time… Give me a sec to get everything ready." Kyle retorted with as he messed around with his Pipboy.

Kyle quickly got Lucky and his Ballistic Fist out of his Pipboy's storage. After carefully getting the Ballistic Fist equipped on his right hand, he grabbed Lucky with his left hand and stopped for a moment to let Aria see what came up with.

"...You're going to try using those two weapons at once?" Aria guessed.

"Yes, that's what I'm going to do for the next battle we face. Consider it an experiment to see if it works...And I got a good feeling it will do extremely well." Kyle eagerly said.

Looking over at his Gauss Rifle and at Aria, Kyle asked, "Since I'm going to be trying out this "dual weapon" setup, do you want to use my Gauss Rifle for the next battle?"

Aria quickly turned her head towards him. "Are you sure about that? If anything, I would need to practice with it, and we'll never know when the next battle is…"

"How about this, I'll help as you practice using it...And I'll also let you hold onto every copy of "Future Weapons Today" in that pile. Those magazines should have some pointers about using energy weapons properly. So, what do you say, Aria?" Kyle asked.

Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "...Alright, I'll give it a try…"

"Before I go, I really appreciate that you agreed to give it a shot… ….Um... I'll drop by later to hand over the Second Seal that Travis found…And practice will start tomorrow ...if you can do it by then..." Kyle nervously said as he looked at Aria for a few seconds after he got done talking.

He quickly gathered up his stuff he brought over, save for the Gauss Rifle and several "Future Weapons Today" Magazines and left Aria's tent.

Aria smiled. "...Can't wait…" she commented, before getting back to work.

* * *

 **A few days later…**

The next stop on the search for the people from the future took the massive group to yet another small land mass on the world map. It took a few days to get to the location in question, but that wasn't important.

What was important was the large manor they found. Based on its outside condition, the manor seemed to be abandoned and whoever owned it was long gone. While the Shepherds were deciding on if they were going to explore it, the Wastelanders already made up their own minds.

The sound of a door getting smashed apart rang throughout the air. When Aria heard it, she turned towards the door, seeing Cait finishing off the last of the door with her fellow Wastelanders nearby.

With the entrance now wide open, The Wastelanders ran in, leaving the Shepherds to begin what they thought was a easy place to scavenge materials…

As the Shepherds tried to catch up, Leon came bolting out looking a bit worried. He quickly mentioned that as soon as they got further inside, a scream that sounds like it belong to a small girl bounced down the hall they were in.

Because of that, Leon was tasked to go get backup. Kyle and the other Wastelanders on the other hand, went further inside the manor to investigate. And with that, Aria and Chrom quickly banded the Shepherds up and followed Leon into the manor.

The Pairs for this sudden event were set up, with Leon and Aria temporarily working together given the circumstances. Shortly after that, they carefully started exploring the Manor...

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The darkness inside the manor did nothing to improve the disturbing vibe coming for the building. At least that what was Kyle was thinking as he used his Pipboy's light to see where he was going. He continued moving till he hit a dead end… and heard footsteps behind him.

Quickly turning around, Kyle got ready to fire Lucky if he had to…

Thankfully, the footsteps belonged to a fellow ally. Veronica stepped out of the darkness into the light, allowing Kyle to see her. The look on her face matched the thought Kyle had.

"Let me guess, you reach a dead end?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah I did... … Hey, are Cait and Travis nearby?" Kyle said as he tried to look into the darkness.

"They were until they took another path they found and I didn't follow them. I think if we go back a bit, we can-" Veronica got interrupted by what sounded like a wall collapsing echoing down the hall.

Then came another noise…the sound of Risen…

Kyle and Veronica made sure they were ready to counterattack as they work their way backwards...

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Two chests were next to each other and the chests themselves stood out in the environment around them. Their contents were safe… until a certain red headed gal and her costumed friend found them.

"Well… look what we have here…two fancy containers all by themselves. I'll get them open and grab what they got, Trav. And keep the light on them so I can see." Cait said as she picked one to open.

Travis kept his Pipboy's light on as Cait tried to open the chest. It didn't budge at all, which got Cait to bust out her lock picking set. Using a screwdriver and bobby pin, she located the chest's keyhole and started the process.

"I think we need to go catch up with Kyle and Veronica, because this way is a dead end and they may have found-" Travis said before Cait interrupted him.

"They probably did find the right way, but…" Cait finished picking the chest and as she opened it, she continued with, "I found something just as valuable."

With the chest open, Cait reached inside it and pulled out a staff with an orb on one end. She handed it over to Travis to store it in his Pipboy and began working on the other chest.

The sound of a wall collapsing finds its way into their location, making Travis unintentionally move the light around. This left Cait in the dark for a few seconds before Travis got the light back on her.

As Cait finished picking the locked chest, It was opened and she dug herself inside it to get its contents. Cait came back up holding a silver gyroscopic object with a blue sphere in the middle, smiling before saying, "Didn't you tell Kyle you found one of these?"

Travis didn't say anything and instead of talking, just started doing something with his eyes.

"What's with the silence? You did find one or are you just messing with me?" Cait asked, getting a bit irate.

Travis continued to remain silent as he started blinking with his eyes really fast. It took a second, but Cait realised that Travis was trying to warn her about something.

The noise of metal hitting the ground and the unnerving breathing explained the rest for what Cait needed to know.

Travis slowly pulled out his Pistol and yelled, "DUCK!"

Cait listen and ducked, which as she did, the sharp point of a spear just missed her. She followed up by rolling to the side as Travis fired at the attacker.

The bullets hit the attacker's helmet and the force of the impacts managed to knock it off. Travis shined the light on the attacker and saw that it was a heavily armored Risen.

Then…Cait springed up and jumped on the Risen, stabbing it with her screwdriver as it fell on its back. Cait continued to attack until it stopped moving and dissolved into smoke.

Travis was a bit shocked as he said, "Well… Now I can add a screwdriver to the list of items you used to finish someone off, Cait."

Cait had a smug look as she responded with, "And that brings the total to…"

Travis sighed before retorting with, "If I remember the number correctly, it should be… 87."

After Cait passed the silver gyroscope over to Travis, the two worked their way back to catch up with Kyle and Veronica.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

Leon was taking the lead, using his equipment to light the way. Besides using his Pipboy's light, he brought out his Shishkabob sword and turned on the fire to make it act as a torch. Aria was following behind him, keeping an eye out for anything that could happen.

As they made their way, Aria decided to ask a question that was on her mind about the sword Leon was carrying.

"Hmmm...what kind of sword is that, anyways?" she asked, "I don't recognize the design…"

"It's technically not a "real sword" because the blade is from a thing called a lawnmower and the other parts are… …Actually, the quick thing to say this thing is basically made from junk and uses some fuel to make the flames coming out from it." Leon said as he tried to explain what the sword was.

Aria nodded. "Ok...and who designed it?"

"Uh… That's harder to answer because it had at least three versions for how to build it. As far as I can tell, they all use the same parts… which I had to use to build this thing myself." Leon answered with.

A nearby wall collapses to the ground, showing a different part of the manor. The two stopped for a moment… as the sudden chain of more walls collapsing filled the environment. Then came the bangs and flashes of gunshots occurring further down the path they were heading.

Leon shook his head before saying, "I hate suggesting this, but you should go look for Kyle. I'll explore this new path that showed up."

Aria replied, "...Very well…"

Leon quickly said, "I'll see you later.", to Aria before he entered the now open pathway.

As Leon made his way further down this new path, he heard a voice. He stopped for a moment and made sure that he was ready to attack with the Shishkabob.

The combined light from his sword and Pipboy helped Leon spot someone or something before they moved back into the darkness.

Taking a chance, he decided to say something.

"Hello? Is there anyone in here? I'm friendly if you are."

"Aaaahhh! Oh…" a young girl's voice exclaimed…

Leon carefully moved his way towards where the voice came from as he responded with, "Look, I'll tell you my name...It's Leon…And...Uh, what's your name?"

"Oh, uhm...Nah," the voice replied.

"I told you my name… you can tell me yours, unless it's one of those really hard to pronounce names. So, can you say your name again?" Leon retorted with as continued following the voice

The voice suddenly turned indignant. "No, NAH. N-A-H. That's my name. Ugh, why does this always happen..."

"Oh…Sorry about that." Leon quickly said as the lights he was using suddenly showed the person he was listening to.

It was a young girl who the voice belong to. There was something odd with her outfit, mainly in the color scheme. The leggings and cape were some shade of red and the rest was white. The only other thing that stood out (that Leon cared about to note) was the color of her hair. It… looked just like… that one Shepherd's hair color…The one named, "Ricken".

Leon spoke up saying, "So...Nah, what are you doing in this place? Because something tells me you wandered in here and got lost."

"...That's pretty much it…" Nah replied.

"Well… How about we get out of this room or hall or whatever we are currently in and meet up with a few associates of mine… And don't worry, they will be friendly." Leon said as he waited for Nah to respond.

Nah thought for a moment, before replying, "...Very well...lead the way…"

Leon and Nah made their way back to the entrance Leon used. As soon as they made their way past the collapsed part, the wall suddenly fixed itself and sealed the pathway.

Leon only had one thing to say about that and it was, "If there's one thing I learned in all of the years I've been alive, it's the fact that I seen too many weird things going on. Now I'm just waiting for someone to turn into something else at this point…" That last part was meant to be a joke, but his tone didn't convey that.

"Well, I am capable of turning into a dragon, just so you have the forewarning…" Nah replied, a small smirk on her face.

Leon quickly turned to Nah saying, " You can turn into a dragon? I find that… rather hard to believe, given your current appearance… but feel free to prove me wrong if you can.

Nah looked at him, before pulling out a small, spherical, shiny stone, holding it up before...it flashed, causing...a crystalline flower to appear below her and surround her. It opened again...revealing a small, horse-sized dark pink dragon. "So...convinced?" the dragon asked, sounding kind of smug.

Leon took a moment to realise what he was seeing, and after a quick slap on his own face, he responded saying, "I'm convinced… I…should make sure to tell my associates about this…when we meet up with them."

"Very well…" Nah stated, before turning back.

The two heard something going on down the hall, and they both made their way towards the noise.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The sound of a large fight was echoing throughout the halls of the manor. It turns out the walls were breaking apart and rebuilding themselves as time goes on. And on the other side of these walls were Risen armed with tomes, weapons, and sharp claws.

Naturally, the Wastelanders and Shepherds kept their eyes out as they fought in the dark. And a particular Courier was fighting off two Risen by himself

Using his new combat strategy, Kyle blocked an attack from one of the Risen using his Ballistic Fist to block it. He followed up by using his left hand, armed with Lucky, to fill the Risen with lead. It collapsed forwards and dissolved into smoke.

The other Risen started charging at Kyle, but a loud noise caught Kyle's attention. Then in a split second, a burst of energy hit the Risen in the torso, sending the thing flying towards a wall. It stopped moving and went out like the other one.

Using his light to look around, Kyle saw Aria reloading the Gauss Rifle in her hands. He only had one thing to say which was, "Thanks…But I didn't need the help…I could have taken it out by myself."

"Well, then that just means you have more energy to take on additional Risen, now doesn't it?" Aria replied, smirking.

Kyle just smiled back as he said, "So… want to tag along? I'm ready to go get past these walls and take on anything."

Aria nodded. "I'm ready."

The Courier and Tactician teamed up and began a rather long spree of taking down Risen. Each one they came across either got taken out by Kyle's revolver and Ballistic Fist gauntlet, or got hit by either Aria's Gauss Rifle or a beam of electrical energy from one of her tomes.

Eventually, there was one last Risen to take out… and it was one of those Chiefs. As the two entered the room it was in, it launched a spell from a purple colored tome it was carrying towards Aria. Kyle decided to do something either bold or stupid depending on how you look at it.

Either way, he took the hit meant for Aria as he used his body to block it. His armor took a good chunk of the damage, but Kyle still felt some pain. Then the second attack he didn't expect hit him. This time, the pain he took managed to bring him to his knees.

In response, Kyle quickly aimed Lucky at the Chief's tome and shot it out of its hands. The tome went flying away from the Chief. Kyle quickly told Aria to finish it off, as he tried to stand up. The pain killed that attempt and he ended up back on his knees. He quickly removed the Ballistic Fist and began reloading Lucky.

Aria looked at him, then turned towards the Risen Chief, and began firing with the Gauss Rifle once more. However, this Risen was able to still advance in spite of the shots. Kyle also fired a few rounds as well, but they didn't accomplish much.

Soon, the Risen, unable to reach its fallen tome, instead charged, readying to slash at Aria. Aria tried to dodge, bringing the Gauss Rifle in front of her like a shield, just in case...and the Risen's hand slammed into the weapon, knocking Aria to the ground, the Risen looming over her, pinning her down to prevent her from escaping.

Kyle fired off three rounds, momentarily getting the Risen's attention, before it went back to focusing on Aria.

Aria looked around, trying to find a way out of the situation. Unfortunately, her sword, which she brought in place of her lance since she couldn't bring her Pegasus inside, was too far away from her to reach. As for the Gauss Rifle… … …

...There was a glow coming from the Microfusion Cell: the Risen's attack had damaged the power cell...which would probably explode any moment.

Kyle also saw that the glow coming from the cell and the reality of the situation he was seeing…

He had to do something quick…

However, while he tried to get there, Aria looked back and forth between the MFC and Risen, as the Risen readied to try to crush her head like a grape… … ...before Aria removed the cell, wincing and hissing in pain as the cell was heating up, before taking it...and literally shoving it down the Risen's throat.

The creature seemed to squawk, rearing back away from Aria who tried to scramble backwards...but before she got very far, the Risen was consumed in a large, green explosion, Aria still close enough to be hit by the shrapnel and blast wave.

The moment Kyle saw the Risen explode and Aria was caught in it, his heart started beating fast. Unfortunately, the blast wave continued onwards and it got him as well. The force knocked him onto his back and he tried to get back up as he started moving again.

It took several seconds, but the adrenaline going through his system helped him keep his mind off the pain. That was when he saw the aftermath of the explosion…

The Risen was gone… but that was not the thing Kyle cared about. No, it was the fact that Aria…Aria didn't look very well.

Kyle quickly walked his way over to Aria, noticing that her eyes were closed and the nasty wound on her face: a scar that began just next to her right eye, so close that if the shrapnel that caused it flew just a TINY bit more to the side, it would have blinded her in that eye, and traveled down her cheek until it reached her chin.

He quickly got down on his knees, looking over her as he tried to remain calm. He spoke up, the panic he was feeling taking over his tone as he said, "Aria, can you hear me? If… you can… just hang on…" He turned around and yelled as loud as he can, "I NEED A MEDIC OR HEALER! HURRY, ARIA'S IN SERIOUS PAIN!"

He turned back towards Aria, continuing with his words telling Aria to hold on. She opened her eyes, which Kyle noticed.

"Good… Just stay awake...I called for help… They should be here shortly…" Kyle still said with that panic still affecting his tone. His eyes started to feel heavy and the adrenaline started to wear off.

Aria tried to say something, but Kyle didn't make anything out as his senses started not working. The last thing he saw was Aria before his eyes closed and he became unconscious.

* * *

A minute or two later, the help that Kyle called for showed up. Travis was the first one to see the two on the ground. He quickly looked behind him and told the other healers behind him, "We need to get them back to the camp now before we lose them. And when we get them there, we have to make sure to treat their wounds as soon as possible."

After they got Aria and Kyle carefully picked up, they began moving the two back towards camp. Travis stuck around for a moment, looking around the room to see what happened. He saw the signs of an explosion that went off and a purple colored book filled with a few bullet holes not too far away.

Travis had a feeling that he was going to have to ask Aria and Kyle what happened, but that thought immediately got replaced with thinking about how he was going to treat their wounds instead.

The battle was over, with victory going towards the Shepherds. But the victory was bittersweet, due to the fact that they ended up with two wounded. One being their Tactician and the other being the leader of the band of Wastelanders.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***Kyle remains silent***

 **Aria: "...Well...that happened…"**

 **Kyle: *Breaks his silence as he calmly says, "Aria, do you have any idea who came up with that particular event?"**

 **Aria: "...I think it might have been IceBite...possibly as some kind of ploy to get us together…"**

 **Kyle: "Just asking…."**

 ***The two just stand there for a few seconds, not talking… and the person in question shows up nearby***

 ***Kyle notices IceBite and glares at him for a few seconds.***

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "... … ...What?"**

 ***Kyle heads over to the camera and turns it around***

 ***The camera is still rolling, just not seeing what was going on.***

 **Kyle: "I just want to be sure…It was your idea wasn't it?"**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "... … ...I had my reasons…"**

 **Kyle: "Well…We will see how it plays out… And I'm just going to let you know that I'm "not okay" with what happened so far…"**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "...Noted…"**

 ***The camera catches Kyle's voice as he whispered to IceBite, "** _ **That's all I wanted to say for now…"Hopefully". So, do me a favor and let me and Aria get back to work.**_ **"**

 **Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "...Uhm...alright…"**

 ***The camera gets turned around, showing Kyle and Aria by themselves.***

 **Kyle: *Forces a smile as he says, "Sorry about that, just had to "Talk" to IceBite about something that needed to be addressed for future recordings."***

 **Aria: *noticing the smile was forced* "...Alright…"**

 **Kyle: *Turns towards the camera, followed by a quick suggestion to get Aria to look at the camera as well.***

 **Kyle: "So…Let's back to talking about the chapter… The title of the chapter is actually an indirect reference to a famous tabletop game series."**

 **Aria: "What kind of tabletop game series?"**

 **Kyle: "The one… that is based on fantasy and magic…What was its name?"**

 **Aria: *shrugs* "I honestly don't know: I remember IceBite mentioning offhandedly that my own WORLD is like a fantasy world: I doubt we've have an actual GAME about such things…"**

 **Kyle: "No wait… I think I remember Triple M saying its name once. It was "B &B" or something."**

 ***Off camera, M3's voice could be heard yelling, "IT'S CALLED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS! AND THAT OTHER NAME IS FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!"***

 **Kyle: "Never mind what I said, it's called Dungeons and Dragons."**

 **Aria: "...Alright...Dungeons and Dragons? What do Dragons have to do with Dungeons, anyways?"**

 **Kyle: "I have no idea… And with that, we have to end the show."**

 **Aria: "Well, see you all next time!"**

 ***The camera turns off...***

 ***Then it turns back on suddenly, catching Kyle messing with the camera controls.***

 ***He stops messing with the camera and moves away from it as it finally turns off again.***

 **End Author's Note.**

* * *

 _Important Update_

 _Due to a recent decision between me and IceBite, we have decided to make another story. Because we went a bit "overboard" with one of our recent Author's Note segment, we have decided to make it into a separate story following right now._

 _For those wanting to follow it, its called "A/N Verse Chronicles". And if you think that means we will stop doing Author's Notes on both of the fics we are making, think again._

 _That is all._

 _-MarkMartinMagma_

* * *

 **Edit Log (Version 1.0): Added some minor changes**


	12. Chapter 12: Nuclear Supports III

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on, showing 4 people in front of the camera. Instead of Aria and Kyle, it was Veronica, Cait, Leon, and Travis.***

 **Cait: "Why are we out here again?"**

 **Leon: "You don't remember what Triple M told you this morning?"**

 **Cait: "That party from last night made it hard to sleep… I still got some of those songs stuck in my head. So, no I don't remember that conversation."**

 **Travis: "He said that we have to provide commentary since Connor and Emp Mitchell told him to expand the cast of commentators.**

 **Veronica: *Looking at the camera, "Uh…The camera is rolling right now…"***

 ***The three other Wastelanders shut up for a moment before they speak up again.***

 **Leon: "So...Let's get to the commentary!"**

 **Travis: "Today's chapter is going to be something great. It's another set of "Nuclear Supports", which will be interesting.**

 **Cait: *Struggling to come up with her line, "Last time…Kyle and Aria ended up wounded after the explosion that took out that… What were the names of those stupid undead things?"***

 ***Off camera, M3 could be heard yelling, "RISEN! THEY ARE CALLED RISEN!"***

 **Cait: *Continuing on with, "Yeah, one of those big Risen guys had a explosive meal...And the end result was what I said earlier…"***

 **Veronica: "But now we will see what happens back at the camp. Let's get the footage started."**

 ***The footage cuts, switching over to the Chapter load screen.***

 ***Chapter 12 loading... loading…***

 ***Chapter 12 loading error… error…***

* * *

 ***It switches back to the four Wastelanders, still in front of the camera.***

 **Veronica: *Confused with happend, "Uh...Are we having technical difficulties with starting the chapter?"***

 ***Off camera, M3 says, "Yeah, we are having problems...I'll try get it fixed. Just stick around till it gets done."***

 **Cait: * Deadpanning,"Better hope it gets fixed before something unexpected happens… ...Much like that one time you and Kyle tried commentating, Leon."**

 **Leon: "The chances of that happening again are-"**

 **?: "Quite high, actually…" *Chapter Master Neodek Sharriar enters the room***

 **Cait: *In a mocking tone, "And the unexpected arrives. What's your name, O great interrupter?"***

 **?: "I am Chapter Master Neodek Sharriar...I arrived here after I'd tracked Emperor Mitchell here...I had meant to offer my support in the past...instances...but it appears I arrived too late to participate…"**

 **M3: *Shows up in front of the camera, looking at the Chapter Master before saying, "Uh… What where you plan to participate in?"***

 **Chapter Master Sharriar: "The battle that occurred here not too long ago...as I stated, the incident was resolved before I had the chance to participate…"**

 **M3: "Huh… I thought it was for the party event I held yesterday… Well, if you don't mind we are filming right now."**

 **Chapter Master Sharriar: "Ah, very well...Wait…'party event'?"**

 **M3: "Yeah, it was a party for everyone who showed up in the Studio. Everyone was invited and it went well, despite the battle that went on outside…"**

 **Veronica: *Gives a suspicious look to M3, while saying, "A battle occurred outside the party and you didn't tell anyone inside that was going on? That sounds like a recipe for disaster waiting to happen."***

 **M3:*Sighs* "Look, I was going to tell you guys about it when IceBite makes an announcement later today. But know that we had everything handled in that fight."***

 **Chapter Master Sharriar: "So...I missed a Party...** _ **and two battles**_ **?!"**

 **M3: "Yeah… And the last one also had Emperor Mitchell fight as well. It was spectacular...After it was over."**

 **Chapter Master Sharriar: *somewhat-disappointed tone* "... … ...I need to incinerate something…" *head to a nearby closet that turns out to be full of Space Marine weapons, pulls out a Heavy Flamer, and heads off to the training area***

 **M3: *Looks at the commentators and asks, "I should probably go make sure he doesn't burn down the whole training area, right?"***

 ***They just nod in approval***

 **M3: "By the way, I got the problem fixed. It turns out I accidently knocked out the cord connected to the socket. The chapter should finish loading now."**

 ***M3 heads off to make sure the Chapter Master doesn't burn down the entire training area.***

 **Travis: *Looks straight at the camera saying, "Our technical issues are over… The chapter will start now."***

 ***Footage cuts again to loading screen***

 ***Chapter 12 loading… loading…***

 ***Loading complete.***

 ***Chapter 12 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Nuclear Supports III**

 **At the Shepherds' Camp, an hour or two later…**

The atmosphere around the camp was very different compared to what it was a few days ago. It felt odd and unnatural, like something had gone wrong. Of course, something did go wrong...Kyle and Aria were badly wounded in the last battle.

Thankfully, they got to the camp's medical tent where they were currently being treated. But it would take some time to see if they were going to make it.

* * *

When Veronica heard that there were two wounded when the battle was over, she never thought one of them would be Kyle. It sounded like he was just going to need some a minor patch up, but that was wrong. She saw Kyle as they were getting him to the camp...And his injuries needed more than a little patch up…

That's what Veronica thought about as she sat down in her tent, assembling a few weapon repair kits using some of the junk from Kyle's tent.

After getting the fifth kit made and placed near the others already made, Veronica noticed Cait entering her tent. The redhead seemed to have a gloomy look on her face, which meant something was going on with Kyle and Aria.

Veronica asked, "Did Travis say anything about how they are doing?"

Cait responded back with, "He said that Kyle is doing better, but they still got to spend more time on making sure he heals up quickly."

Veronica followed up with, "And what about Aria? From what I heard, the wounds she has are more severe than Kyle's wounds."

Cait didn't want to say anything, but she had to say something. The tone she used was very somber as she said, "Aria...is doing better… but they are fighting tooth and nail to make sure she lives. She still hasn't regain consciousness yet…"

Veronica asked another question on her mind, which was, "You have any idea of what happened to them? It sounds like something else happened when they split off from us."

Cait responded in the same somber tone as she answered with, "From what I heard from Travis...He thinks the two of them got caught in a explosion. As for what caused it...he has an idea, but he is focusing on fixing them up first."

"So...I take it that the explosion managed to harm Aria more than Kyle. Did you happen to see how bad Aria's wounds were?" Veronica wondered, hoping that it wasn't as bad as it could be…

"I did see one… ...It...was one that was on the right side of her face. It...was very close to her eye...Not to mention that it also went down pretty far on her face. There was more, but that one… … …" Cait said, before remaining silent at the end.

That silence at the end of what Cait mentioned did nothing to make Veronica stop thinking of the worst case scenario. It made the former scribe want to think of something else… just to take her mind off it.

Veronica spoke up asking Cait, "Look, I'm sorry for saying this right now...But I really need to something else to talk about. As much as I want to know what is going on with Kyle and Aria... There's not much we can do except wait. You mind telling me about your past a bit more?"

Cait responded with, "You sure you want me to talk about that? My past… is not exactly a "happy one", especially with what is going on right now…"

Veronica sighed before saying, "I'm willing to listen to it...If you actually want to start talking about it."

Cait shook her head for a few seconds before retorting with, "I'll do it… But know that I warned you beforehand… … ...Where do I begin?"

Cait started talking about her past, specifically about when she was younger. The first part that came up was her parents. They weren't the best parents, especially after Cait elaborated about several things they did to her growing up.

There was the time she tried to run away from her family. Her parents found Cait and locked her in a shed for trying something like that. Then there was the time when she had to sleep outside in the rain when they lived in a trailer park at one time. There were some other stuff that happened before she tried to run away for the second time. Much like the first time, they found her...except this time they broke one of her legs.

But the one part that Cait had trouble trying to explain what happened when she turned 18. After she reached that age, her parents sold her to slavers for a bunch of caps. Because of that, Cait had to spend 5 years trying to collect enough caps to buy her own freedom.

Veronica had a question on her mind, which made her ask, "So...What did you do when you were free?"

Cait answered, after taking a deep breath, with, "I did the only thing that was on my mind… Getting revenge on my parents for doing something like that to me."

"Did you ever find them and get your revenge?" Veronica asked.

"I did… The moment I found them again… ...My anger made me want them to pay for what they did to me. It… wasn't exactly something that ended well…" Cait stated as tears started to form.

"What did you do? Because it sound like… You didn't… actually do 'THAT' right?" Veronica said as she started connecting the dots.

"No...I did do exactly what you're thinking. I… killed my parents. To this day...I think they deserved it… But it didn't exactly fix everything. In fact, I think that made the next 3 years in my life worse." Cait somberly said as she held back her tears.

It was depressing to actually hear that...But Veronica tried to console Cait with, "...I take it after all of those years…you got things to turn around...right?"

"Yeah… I did...Just not without facing one more "issue" that arose during those three years...Something that I just recently got over…" Cait said while not stating what the issue was.

The details in Cait's story were making Veronica wonder one last thing about Cait, which made the former scribe ask, "You said that "issue" started in the span of three years...And that you just got done dealing with it "recently"... ...Exactly how long has it been since then?"

Cait answered back quickly with, "A year ago, around the same time I met Travis at the Combat Zone."

And then just like that, Cait followed up with, "By the way, I know that the next question you are going to ask is how old I am...And just to get it over with… I'm 27."

Veronica was surprised that Cait knew what the next question was going to be. With a tone of mild confusion, Veronica said, "How did you figure that out?"

"There are two reasons for that; the first being that I could tell based on the looks you had on your face when I was telling you about my past. The second being... the way you asked those questions were somewhat similar to when Travis was wanting to know about me after we met." Cait said in a more neutral tone.

Veronica wanted to say one more thing which was, "Okay… ...There's still one part you forgot to explain… ...What exactly was that-"

"I'm not talking about "that"... I only told one other person what it was… And I made sure to make him promise to never tell anyone else about it. Otherwise... That's all I will tell you." Cait blurted out, interrupting Veronica.

With the conversation ending shortly after that, Cait left the tent to go get an update from Travis. That allowed Veronica to get back to working on making more repair kits...After she took a minute to get her mind back from thinking about what Cait told her.

* * *

The medical tent was hard at work, with Travis taking the helm as the leader of the team working on keeping Aria and Kyle alive. There was some major progress made when they finished cleaning and dressing Kyle's wounds.

Despite the damage from the spell and explosion hitting him, the only thing that needed to be done now was for him to regain consciousness and let his body rest. Travis planned to have Kyle moved back to his own tent before getting back to treating Aria.

The problem was that Travis needed someone else to help him move Kyle since everyone else in the medical tent was focusing on treating Aria. Thankfully, Cait managed to get inside the medical tent. She came by to get a update, but Travis convinced her to help out transport Kyle to his bed.

After getting a makeshift stretcher made and carefully getting Kyle placed on it, the two carefully carried The Courier out of the medical tent.

As they made their way to their destination, a conversation between Cait and Travis formed.

"I just got done talking to Veronica...I told her about my past." Cait suddenly said as she looked at Travis.

"And why are you bringing it up now? We should be focusing on getting Kyle here to his bed…" Travis stated as he made sure to not bump into anything.

"I know...I just really need to talk to you about something I got on my mind." Cait said.

"As soon as we get this done, I'll listen to whatever you need to talk about. Also, we will have to shift the way we are facing to get inside..." Travis said as they arrived at Kyle's tent.

After getting inside and placing Kyle on his bed, Travis and Cait quickly went outside to discuss about what Cait wanted to say.

"So what do you need to talk to me about, Cait?" Travis asked as he packed the cobbled together stretcher up.

"Veronica wanted to know about the "problem" I was dealing with...I told her I wasn't going to say anything about it...but I'm getting this feeling that I should." Cait mumbled as she paused to think out what to say.

Travis thought out what he wanted to say and said in a serious tone, "Maybe you should follow that feeling you are getting. In fact, it may be better just to tell the people in our little group about it...If you want to actually do that."

Cait remained silent for a moment before expressing a bit of anxiety with, "You got a point…Except...what if just makes things worse somehow? A lot of the decisions I made always managed to get me into trouble down the road…"

"You do realize you are saying that to one of your friends right now...Who helped you through something that could have gotten you to not be around anymore. The same person that helped you when you didn't do it for yourself… ...I…think you should tell them about it. And if it does somehow make things worse, I'll be there for you for support." Travis said, hoping that Cait understands what he meant.

This time, Cait did remain silent. The only thing that told Travis that she understood him was the faint smile she gave him.

"Hope you heard what you wanted to hear from me, Cait. And if you plan on committing to my suggestion…Make sure to let me know just in case." Travis said.

After a short amount of time passed, Travis told Cait that he needed to get back to the medical tent to get back to work on treating Aria. Cait did see him looking back at her before she couldn't see him anymore.

With being alone all by herself, Cait took a moment to remember the last time she interacted with Aria. The recent talk with Travis making her wonder if the way she acted was out of line for wanting to making a profit instead of working with others because it was the right thing to do.

The only way she was going to make sense of this change in her moral compass was by talking to the person she didn't want to talk since then...If they are still around.

* * *

Leon felt a bit off...It felt like the entire camp was missing its usual morale. Maybe it was from the battle they just got back from, or it may just be the food coming out of the mess hall. It was clear which of the two was the cause of the low morale, but Leon thought that the bad food wasn't helping out at all.

The person in charge of cooking this time was Brady, who managed to make a lot of Shepherds complain about the "quality" of the meals provided. Even Leon had to agree when he saw the state of the bread he was given. It looked like someone managed to set on fire with a Flamer and turned most of it into ash.

Then there was the meat, which was severely overcooked. All of the juicy taste of meat was replaced with dry nothingness and burnt portions.

And the simple potato was not spared either. The potato Leon got was not cut very well, still had dirt and potato skin on it, and the worst part was that it was ice cold.

Disgusted with he got, Leon quickly dumped what remained of his meal on the ground and left in a hurry to eat some "better" food in his tent.

As Leon entered his tent, he located his stash of Pre-War food he had with him. After grabbing a few cans of 'Pork-N-Beans' and 'Cram', he set up a small fire and placed a sheet of metal over it. He placed the canned food on the sheet and waited for the contents to fully cook.

A few minutes passed and Leon carefully got the hot cans off the sheet and opened them up. The food smelled delicious and Leon started digging in with a set of utensils he took from the mess hall.

The smell of cooked beans, pork, and whatever 'Cram' is supposed to be, left Leon's tent and spread out around the area.

The Lone Wanderer continued to eat in peace, occasionally looking over to see Dogmeat sleeping on his bed. The dog, tired from running around in that manor fighting off Risen, was getting some well deserved sleep.

However, the peacefulness that Leon was feeling at the moment quickly went out as soon as the owner of the creepy smile entered his tent.

"Hello! I was wo-Wait, where'd you get that food?" Henry said, entering the tent.

Taking a moment to swallow the food in his mouth,(and to also prepare himself for talking with Henry), Leon said, "Did you not notice the pile of food inside here the last two times you showed up in my tent?"

Henry looked over where Leon indicated. "...Huh: I never noticed that before…" And his smile STILL never left his face.

"So, what brings you here, Henry? I take it was going be asking about if I was ready to listen that 'tale' about you." Leon said.

"Oh yeah! That's why I came here!" Henry replied with his usual cheer.

"And let me guess, you're also a bit hungry because the mess hall food was terrible and you didn't want to eat any of it." Leon stated, noting his reaction from when he first walked in.

"Pretty much!" Henry replied, "So, could I have some?"

Leon sighed before begrudgingly saying, "Yeah...I ended up heating too much anyway. Give me a sec to pass something over."

As Leon grabbed an open can of cooked 'Cram' and started handing it over to Henry, he realized he forgot something about the food he was passing over. The "something" being that the food had rads in it and he was about to hand over irradiated food to Henry.

He quickly pulled his hand holding the can back and placed it near him as he checked his Pipboy.

"Hey! Why'd ya stop handing the food over?" Henry asked… … ...still smiling…

Leon continued to check his Pipboy until he found the item he was looking for. After getting it out of storage, he placed the object near the open can of 'Cram'.

"Say, what's that?" Henry asked.

"That is a food sanitizer. What it does is take any food insert into it and cleans it out of anything that could cause harm. In the case of this 'Cram' thing, it has something called radiation in it. All you need to know is that it's bad and this little thing cleans out stuff like that. I...was just about to serve you unclean food before I realized in the nick of time." Leon said as he showed Henry the device.

"Aaaaaahhhhh! Alright then! So, can I eat now?" Henry asked.

"Just hold your horses, Henry. I need to get the food cleaned and I'll hand it over." Leon said as he placed the Cram inside the device. And three seconds later, it popped back out and Leon handed it over to Henry.

Before Henry could start eating, Leon interrupted him one more time, this time handing over a spare set of utensils before saying, "Now you can eat."

Henry gleefully accepted the food and began eating. "Wow, this tastes different!"

"Yeah...Just wait till you try the 'Pork-N-Beans', they taste way better than what you are eating." Leon said as he got one cleaned.

The two ate through every cooked can of food that Leon had after cleaning them, and Henry started talking about the 'tale' involving himself.

 **One very long tale later…**

"Well… ...That certainly was a long 'tale' alright… …. ...You sure that everything you told me was real?" Leon said after listening to Henry.

"Ye-Uhp!" Henry replied.

Leon took a deep breath, using that time to get ready for what he had to say. What Henry told him explained a LOT of things he was wondering about Henry.

"Look I'm apologizing in advance just in case, but WOW! You are probably the most messed up person I ever met. I'm surprised that I was able to avoid being very blunt about what I thought about you till now. And yet...I now understand that you have reasonable explanations about your behavior and that smile of yours...Which by the way, creeps me out. I… also want to say that despite all of that, I...actually liked talking with you for some insane reason." Leon said, meaning everything he said.

"Awww, I like talking to you as well! Nyahahahahah!" Henry replied. Finishing up the last of his food, he went, "Oh, I just remembered, I was gonna meet up with Cordelia! I should get going, see ya!"

And just like that, Henry left, leaving Leon as he exits the tent. Leon took a moment to look at Dogmeat and say, "Remind me to tell you to never hang around Henry...You heard a lot of things that I don't want to him to know."

Dogmeat just opened his eyes and make a quick bark before he went back to sleep.

* * *

 **Some unknown amount of time later…**

The only thing that Kyle can see is darkness. Instead of seeing the world around him, he was seeing a void of nothingness. And then came the light…the light from a lit candle.

Seeing the light, Kyle tried to move, making some noise thanks to the bed. He heard something from behind him and turned around to see what it was.

It was Leon, who was moving around a chair, unaware that Kyle was awake.

Kyle spoke up, his voice a bit weak as he said, "What are you doing here, Leon? And where...is Aria?"

"First off, Travis told me to keep an eye on you till he got back. As for Aria…she is currently in the medical tent getting treated as we speak. Of course there's good news and bad news because of that." Leon calmly said.

"What's the bad news?" Kyle questioned.

"I thought you wanted to hear the good news first, but best to get the worst part out of the way. Aria...is still unconscious and that wound on her face will turn into a big scar after it heals." Leon said honestly.

"Then what is the good news?" Kyle asked following what Leon said.

"The good news is that she'll live. I didn't get to see how Travis and the team he formed managed to fix her up, but they did." Leon said, this time with a more positive look on his face.

Kyle took the news as a sign that he needed to go see her. As he tried again to get off the bed, he ended up getting stopped by Leon.

"And where do you think you're going, Kyle?" Leon said.

"I need to see Aria. I...just have to…" Kyle mumbled as the pain stopped him.

"No, the only thing you have to do right now is to rest. In the meantime, you can either sleep or talk to me." Leon stated as he got back on the chair he was sitting in.

"If I listen to you ramble, will you let me get out of here after it's over?" Kyle asked, hoping Leon would agree.

Leon just smiled as he said, "That sounds like a fair deal. So just know there's a lot I got to say and you better stay awake."

Most of what Leon had to say was about the groups of people he meet. Everything from bomb worshipping cult members to fake superheros in costumes inspired by fictional characters. He had a few lines of thoughts about each group and encounter, with most of it being about crazy it all seemed.

Of course, things changed when Leon started talking about two particular groups. The first one being the Brotherhood of Steel, and the other one being the Enclave.

From what Kyle heard, Leon used to like the Brotherhood, mainly because of what they did to help him change the Capital Wasteland for the better. This lasted for a while until one sudden day changed everything.

For reasons that Leon was still trying to make sense of, the Brotherhood cut all ties with him. The reason they gave him was because he was never a official member of the group, despite everything he did for them. Kyle tried asking what he meant by that, but Leon told him it involves the next group.

The next group being the Enclave. This time, Leon didn't have a lot of nice things to say about them. Leon started off with talking about President Eden and his plan to "Save" the Capital Wasteland and what he personally thought about it. Then Kyle started asking questions and Leon answered each one, making sure to answer as best he could. The conversation kinda ended after that.

The two remained silent until Kyle blurted out, "I believe that means I fulfilled my end of the bargain and now you have to do the same."

"Yeah...I will. But I got one last thing I wanted to ask before I left you go." Leon quickly said.

"And what is that?" Kyle retorted with as he got ready to move.

"You heard what I got to say and I want to know what you think of me. And be honest." Leon stated waiting for a response.

Kyle answered honestly with, "I think you are a very interesting man and that you believe in what you think is right. I can also say that whatever happened to you with the Brotherhood and Enclave made you who you are today. That being said, I can tell from listening to you that you may be suffering from some amount of loneliness that makes you want to interact with people. Other than that, I don't have much else to say."

Then Kyle got off his bed and slowly made his way out of the tent.

Leon just sat there until he said to himself, "Was it really that easy to tell from listening to me?" He left Kyle's tent after a few minutes pass being by himself.

* * *

Travis was outside the medical tent getting some fresh air instead of the stuffy air inside the tent. He could tell the medical team was proud of the effort they gave, even if the results were going to take time to pay off. Said medical team got dismissed since Travis told them he can handle everything from here on out.

One quick check inside the tent and noting that Aria was still not awake, Travis turned around to see how Kyle was doing. He didn't make it very far before bumping into the person he was going to see.

"Sorry about that… I'm in a bit… of a rush...What are you doing out here?" Travis blurted out as he saw that it was Kyle.

"I need to go see Aria. She got injured because of me…" Kyle mumbled as he tried moving Travis out of his way.

"No, you NEED to get some rest instead of risking opening your wounds by moving around so much." Travis said as he carefully pushed Kyle back.

"You don't understand, I have to see her now...There's something I need to tell her when she wakes up…" Kyle mumbled out loud hoping that Travis will stop blocking him.

Travis thought about what to do for several seconds before coming to a conclusion. He followed up by saying, "If it is that important, I'll allow you to go see her. Just do me a favor and for yourself and let me help you get there."

Kyle just said, "Thank you." as he let Travis help him get over to the medical tent. When they arrived, Travis held the tent entrance open for Kyle, letting him in before leaving to get some grub because he was starving from not eating.

* * *

The Courier made his way towards the part of the tent that Aria was in. After locating where she was, Kyle grabbed the nearest chair and placed it near Aria's bed. He sat down and waited for her to wake up.

For a short time, nothing...then finally, Aria began to stir. She groaned, before slowly opening her eyes.

Kyle tried to avoid getting emotional, but the moment he saw her eyes open, all bets were off.

"Aria…Are you finally awake...after all this time, or am I...just...dreaming?" He struggled to say as he felt his heart beat a bit faster.

Aria slowly turned her head towards him and tried to speak, but found her voice hadn't quite returned yet.

Kyle spoke up saying, "Guess I still...gotta wait….till I hear your voice again...It's what...I deserve...for making that "mistake"…"

Aria gave him a look of confusion at that.

"It was… my fault. I never should have… handed you the...Gauss Rifle. The technology… from my world...can be extremely dangerous." Kyle said.

He continued with, "In fact...I never… should have shown you…that microfusion cell. Those things...only exist to….power devices that harm others."

"I never...planned on harming you. But that...mistake told me I…need to stay away from you."

"K-Kyle…" Aria managed to croak out, but Kyle didn't catch it.

"But...the problem is… I...I...No. I'm...not worthy to work with you. I'll...just have my...terrible luck… be the only… thing I'm good for.

Her voice returning, Aria said, in an almost-normal tone, "Kyle." Again, however, Kyle didn't hear her.

"I...should not be here...especially in this tent… and the world….beyond it. The only...thing I'll accomplish… is harming you.

"Kyle," Aria said, her voice back enough to say in a firmer tone, yet Kyle STILL didn't hear her.

"I...know...as soon as that happens again...Everyone will…-" Kyle continued to ramble till he heard...

"KYLE!" Kyle's rant went on for so long that Aria managed to fully regain her voice, at least enough to shout. At last, Kyle heard her.

"You finally...got your voice back." Kyle said after taking a few seconds to catch his breath.

"I've had it back, to a degree, for about a minute or so…" Aria replied, "...I just had problems getting your attention, until it recovered enough to let me shout…"

"But you have no reason...to shout. What I did...was explain how… I failed you." Kyle depressingly stated.

Aria shook her head. "That's...not how I see it…" she replied.

"Well...How do you see it? Because the only thing… I'm seeing is a sign of failure." Kyle asked in the same tone.

"Let me answer it this why: from an objective standpoint: what exactly happened?" Aria began.

"You got pinned...by that Risen Chief. It managed to hit the Gauss...Rifle and make the cell overheat. Thinking quickly… you shoved that… soon to be exploding cell...down its throat. Except… you still got caught...In the blast range." Kyle said, not noticing what her point was.

Aria nodded. "Yes...now, tell me: what if I had my sword readied, instead of the Gauss Rifle? Or one of my tomes instead?"

"You still...would have been...pinned. And with the...Risen pinning you down… You would have… No way...to defend yourself." He started seeing what her point was.

Aria nodded. "If I had my sword, it would have been shattered...likely to the point where I couldn't even use the broken blade as a dagger. If I had one of my tomes, it would have been torn apart, utterly useless...Me dying would have been a guarantee...You think giving me the Gauss Rifle caused me to nearly die… … ...What I see, is that the Gauss Rifle is why I'm NOT dead: that it's what SAVED my life…" She smiled at him. "So...thank you for letting me use it…"

"But...You now have… a nasty scar on your face… all because I let you use the Rifle...You could have lost your eye." Kyle noted.

"And without the Rifle, I _would_ have lost my life…" Aria repeated, "If I had to choose between being scarred with a chance at being killed and...having it guaranteed that I'll be killed...I think I'd take almost losing an eye over the alternative…"

Kyle stopped talking for a moment...before he mustered a small smile as he says, "You're right. But… now I gotta go fix the Gauss Rifle. That… thing is a lifesaver...even if that wasn't its intended purpose."

Aria kept smiling. "Well, it certainly saved _my_ life…" she replied.

Kyle took a deep breath before struggling to say, "You know, I...really...lo… y… …I mean… I appreciate… ...working with you, Aria. You are… someone… I…would...trust with… my life."

Aria looked at him a moment, before saying, "...Yeah...I'd trust you with my life too…"

* * *

Some time passed and Travis showed up to see Aria and Kyle looking at each other. He was glad that Aria finally awakened from being out and it meant he could finally figured out what happened to them.

As he walked towards the two, Travis said, "I assume you two are about done getting reacquainted from not seeing the world and each other for a while?"

Aria turned towards Travis, before replying, "We were just talking about what happened…"

Kyle followed up with, "And how things could have played out...if things played out differently…"

Travis remained quiet for a second before asking, "You mind telling me exactly what happened in detail? I'm asking in case something "similar" to this happens again."

Kyle and Aria explained that they were fighting the Risen Chief and it managed to hit Kyle with a spell twice. Then came the part where it pinned Aria and hit the microfusion cell powering Kyle's Gauss Rifle...Which Aria was using at the moment.

They talked about the fact that the cell was going to explode and how Aria jammed the malfunctioning cell inside the Risen's throat and how it exploded a bit afterwards. The Risen was gone, but the explosion still managed to get both Kyle and Aria, with Aria being closer to the explosion.

With them wrapping up what they knew, Travis pulled out a purple tome and allowed Kyle and Aria to see it. Travis then asked, "Okay… that answers almost all of the questions I have left...Except for this one. Either of you remember seeing this particular book around the area you fought that Risen?"

Aria looked at it briefly. "It's a Waste Dark Tome...Kyle shot it out of the Risen Chief's hands during the fight."

"Except I think now it's a Bullet Dark Tome. I can see the bullets lodged in the Tome and now I worry the bullets will be magical." Kyle joked as he stared at the Tome.

Aria giggled at that. "Imagine the tactical applications for that if it's true…" she joked.

Travis responded with, "No...What would really help is if you managed to find a way to make a incendiary, explosive bullet."

Kyle continued to laugh as he said, "Trust me man, they already had incendiary and explosive bullets… no need to mix those two already."

"...Wait, those really exist?" Aria asked, surprised.

"Yeah...they get made for certain guns if you were willing to give out a bit more money to pay for a few of them. And yes...they do set people on fire or explode when it hits them." Kyle stated as he looked at Aria.

A slightly wide-eyed stare, interrupted by a couple blinks from time to time, was what met Kyle's claim.

Both male Wastelanders tried to snap her out of that by saying, "Yeah...The Wasteland is really messed up, in more ways than one. But that's the way it ended up."

"...Right…" Aria finally replied, before commenting, "So...how exactly DID your world come to be like this? You said it was 'ruined' in a war, but you didn't say _how_ , really…"

Kyle and Travis looked at each other for a moment before one of them decided to explain what happened in the war.

"I don't know if Kyle told you about radiation already… but what happened was caused by really powerful bombs called "Nukes". Nukes are explosives made to a big explosion blast that also releases radiation into the atmosphere and environment. The problem is that every country or nation in our world had these things and then… just like that… they used them. The result was that our entire world, not just the place we call the "Wasteland", was hit by a nuke. It was safe to say that our world would have been lifeless after the "Great War" started and ended in a few minutes." Travis said, in a serious and emotionless tone.

Aria was silent for a moment...before her eyes widened. "Wait! If the world really WAS...erm…'nuked'...to the extent you say...how are YOU ALL alive?!"

"Well..that happened 200 years ago in our world's time...A lot of people had a feeling this disaster was going to happen at some point. So, before the bombs fell, the country that was in charge of what was is now the Wasteland built these massive shelters. These shelters were made to be underground vaults that would save people from the nukes. For 'most' of them, it worked and humanity was able to live on till enough time passed that they tried living back on the surface and rebuild. Those people lived long enough to have kids and lead to people like Kyle, Leon, Cait, and Veronica to be here." Travis said in the same tone.

Aria took a moment to absorb the information, before finally saying, "...You said _most_ of these 'Vaults' worked…"

Travis took a deep breath before retorting with, "When I say "most"... I meant the ones that did as they were sold to the people who went inside them. The other ones… were part of a grand experiment that was willingly done on countless people. They had things where it either ended up killing the inhabitants or just made things worse for them. In my case...I was in a Vault. It was numbered "111" and I had the unfortunate luck to experience it. To keep it short...111's trick was that everyone who got in was placed in a chamber and was frozen solid for many years. I was in one...and I ended up escaping from the vault after I thawed out...210 years later. I'm technically 243 years old...When I'm still physically 33 years old."

Aria seemed to be processing what she was told, before finally asking, "So...basically, they experimented on the inhabitants of some of the Vaults?"

"Yeah...The leaders in charge were not very smart...or have any sense of decent morals. But they willingly did this to their fellow people for some project they never achieved, whatever it was. And the saddest part about all of this... ... is this way of thinking lead to the "Great War". The same "thinking" that got millions of innocent people to die by the bombs…. And hundreds of others for some dumb experiment instead of saving them." Travis said, getting irate near the end.

Silence reigned for a moment, before…"... … ...Sorely tempted to believe that Divine Intervention was involved in your world's destruction, after hearing that it MIGHT be possible post-war life is almost better than pre-war life..."

Travis was about to respond, but Kyle beat him to as he said, "That's humanity for you. We always manage to survive everything the forces beyond our control inflicts on us. The past happened, but the only way is to go forward, learning from our mistakes and achievements to make a better future."

Aria thought for a moment, before smiling. "Well said…" she agreed.

The camp's mood changed once word gotten around that Kyle and Aria were up and awake. The atmosphere was more lively than it was earlier and it continued to return to normal as Kyle and Aria were ready to get back in action.

A tough moment...but it was one that strengthened bonds around the camp.

End Chapter 12.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 ***Camera switches back***

 **Travis: "And...Here we are."**

 **Veronica: "With Kyle and Aria back...Things seem to be on the rebound back for the camp."**

 **Leon: "And we get to know a bit more of our little group and the Shepherds. Especially you, Cait."**

 **Cait: *Trying to change the topic with, "And then we get to you, Leon. You find a bloodthirsty freak like Henry to be good friend material?"***

 **Leon: *In an annoyed tone, "I NEVER wanted to be around him, but he keeps showing up and I just wanted to remain civil...until I somehow grew to like talking to him."***

 **Cait: *Continues with, "By the way, If Henry is now a friend of yours, what does that make Dogmeat?"***

 **Leon: *In the same tone, "Dogmeat is still MY dog and because of that, he is MY partner"***

 **Cait: *Laughs a bit before saying, "You been fighting with either Veronica or Henry more times than you do with Dogmeat…They deserve to be called your 'partner' more than the little mole rat."***

 **Veronica: "Speaking of Dogmeat...Where is he right now?"**

 **Leon: "Back in my room sleeping on my bed, just like any good dog."**

* * *

 ***The footage suddenly shifts to a camera inside Leon's room. The only thing that can be seen is Dogmeat...And a very large pile of golden coins, bottlecaps, and stacks of modern paper bills. Dogmeat can be seen swimming (somehow) inside that massive pile of money.***

* * *

 ***The footage switches back to the commentators,***

 **Travis: "Can we get back to the main topic at hand or are we just going to waste time?"**

 **Leon and Cait: *Remain silent before they both mutter, "Sorry"***

 **Travis: "Okay…So...I see something "interesting" happening down the road between Aria and Kyle."**

 **Veronica: "They spend a lot of time together...I'm surprised Kyle didn't get to "say" what he wanted to say to Aria after she woke up."**

 **Leon: "Not to mention...Even out here in wherever this studio is supposed to be... They are really "close" to each other."**

 **Cait: *Blatantly not being subtle as she says, "Kyle is in love with Aria, but he's too much of a clueless klutz when talking to her about what he thinks about her. And I'm saying that while being nice. Also, don't get me started on this back and forth between them because if you ask me…."***

 ***Cait turns to catch her co-commentators staring at her, with looks that can be best described as the ones you use to tell people to can it.***

 **Cait: *Taking the cue, she says, "But…Yeah...The two lovebirds are getting 'there"...and when they do, I hope things go well."***

 **Veronica: "So, is there anything else we need to cover?"**

 **Leon: "No, I think we got everything covered...As far as I can tell."**

 **Veronica: "Well...If so...Then that ends our job for today."**

 **Travis: "See you folks later when the next chapter gets posted."**

 ***The four Wastelanders leave the room shortly after that.***

 ***The camera turns off by itself.***

 **End Author's Notes**


	13. Chapter 13: Loyalty of Beasts

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***There seems to be no one in front of the camera...until something quickly runs into the room. It turns out it was one of those robots that were impersonating M3.***

 **?: "The coast is clear...You can come out now."**

 **?: "...Good…"**

 **?: "I'm surprised that this entire place is empty...You sure you read that note on the front door correctly?"**

 **?: "Yeah: Everyone left for a mandatory vacation…"**

 ***Camera Shifts to a note attached to the door of the studio, which read as follows:**

" _ **Hey Alma, sorry about not telling you about this sudden event. Due to 'recent' issues, everyone had is required to take a vacation. And just in case you need to catch up with us...I provided directions for where we are.**_

 _ **Please also take note of some ground rules we have to set up.**_

 _ **Please...Do not poison any females that look at IceBite.**_

 _ **Same applies to threateningly staring at ANYONE that looks at IceBite funny.**_

 _ **This also includes any form of "Henshining" on or "Rider Finish-ing" anyone who insults IceBite.**_

 _ **Etc… And I mean a lot of cases that I didn't write down on here.**_

 _ **Signed, M3."**_

 **And to ensure that she DID read it...the top of the page was ripped off from the door and the part with directions was missing.***

* * *

 ***Camera shifts back to the Robots***

 **?: "... … ...I have a bad feeling about that girl…"**

 **?: "She ain't here...So don't worry about her."**

 ***The two robots look at the camera and notice that it was on.***

 **?: "I get the feeling we should introduce ourselves...It's recording.**

 **? :"...Oh… … …"**

 ***The robots quickly get into position. The one on the left starts with saying, "I am Magma Bot."***

 ***While the one of the right said, "And I am Ice Bot…"***

 **Magma Bot: "So...We don't have much to say at the moment. To pass the time till we come up with something, we will start this chapter footage we found."**

 ***Magma Bot signals Ice Bot to get the chapter started.***

 **Ice Bot: *Tries to start the machine...which doesn't respond; hits the top of the machine, and it responds…***

 ***Chapter 13 loading… loading***

 ***Loading… loading complete***

 ***Chapter 13 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Loyalty of Beasts**

 **At the Shepherds' Camp… A few days later.**

The camp was currently experiencing a rather peaceful day. There was nothing going on at the moment in the camp that disrupted the rather quiet environment. This peace lead to a lot of people sleeping in for once as the sun in the sky started going into the position where it would be considered noon.

The Courier was no exception to this fact. Kyle was in a rather pleasant dream, which kept him wanting to stay in bed. He was suppose to meet with Aria earlier today to discuss where the next location they had to explore, but that wasn't going to happen at the moment.

Instead, someone else decided to do his job for him, unintentionally. The person who ended up with that was Cait. She was wandering through the camp, looking for a certain tent. After arriving at one particular spot , Cait took a moment to stop.

"Hey, whoever is inside...I need to know if this is Aria's tent…" Cait called out, before waiting for a response. However, there was none.

Taking a risk at being yelled at, Cait went near the entrance to the tent and pushed the flap out of the way. Cait called out one more time, this time saying, "Hello? Is there anyone home?"

A look around the tent revealed… … ...Aria, in bed, surrounded by books and paper, looking as though she fell asleep while working the previous night, and hadn't woken up yet…

Cait was going to leave until she came up with something to wake Aria up. The first action she took was to unholster her shotgun. With the gun in her hands, Cait opened up the gun and pulled out the two shells and placed them in her hand.

After judging and guessing how far the entrance was to Aria's bed, the Irish redhead tossed the two shells towards Aria. The shells did manage to hit Aria...

...But did nothing but make her squirm a bit. The shells rolled off the bed into the pile of books and paper.

Slightly disappointed that the shells failed to do the job, Cait quickly left to get something else. After a minute or two passed, Cait returned with a Pipboy in her arms. The owner of said Pipboy was not using it at the moment, so Cait 'borrowed' it.

Taking a moment to get back at the original position Cait was at before she left, she quickly switched to the radio tab on the Pipboy. She found the radio signal and waited for the music to play.

The music that was playing was not very loud...and the lyrics were not helping. It turns out the song that was playing was "Sit and Dream", a song that even made Cait start to get sleepy as she listened to it. Needless to say, Aria stayed asleep.

Shutting off the radio, Cait was at a loss for words about how much trouble she was having. She left once again...and returned a minute later, still carrying the Pipboy in one of her hands. However, on her other hand lay a small white square device.

It was a Wakemaster alarm clock, taken from one of Travis' piles of junk. This one was working because the hands on the actual clock part were still moving. The fact that it was working meant that Cait had another opportunity at waking Aria up.

Setting the alarm to go off in a minute, Cait carefully and quietly placed the alarm clock on Aria's bed. Once the device was on there, Cait quickly moved outside of the tent and waited for the alarm to go off.

Several seconds passed as the Alarm went off…

 ***CRACK!***

The sound of thunder blasted from the tent.

Taking a second to realize what happened, Cait carefully poked her head inside the tent. What she saw was not the result she expected.

The first thing that she saw was that the Alarm clock was broken into several pieces and some of the parts still were scorched by the electricity. The second and more worrisome thing Cait saw was Aria.

To say that Aria was irritated would be a bit of a understatement. She glared at where the clock was with an irritated look in her eyes, her mouth shut but straight, and in her right hand was a still-crackling Elthunder Tome.

Cait remained silent as she waited to see what Aria was going to do next...Which she failed to do as she started chuckling at the fact that it took a alarm clock to wake her up.

That was met and silenced with a glare of killing intent coming from the Tactician. That stare actually managed to start making Cait scared, which bothered her even more. She froze like a radstag when it saw a deathclaw staring at it...That's the stare Cait was experiencing at the moment.

"... … ...Any particular reason you had that...infernal contraption...going off in my ear?" the tactician growled, venom _drowning_ her voice.

"I...was going to talk to you about something...Before I found out you were sleeping. I...tried using less noisy methods...But you sleep through them. My...last resort was the alarm clock...or what was a alarm clock at this point." Cait carefully said in a terrified tone.

She continued with, "I'm...sorry for causing that...And I really mean it. Now...why don't you...put down that...book of yours before any regrettable actions...are taken."

Aria continued staring at Cait irritably...before huffing and stuffing the tome back in her cloak. "What is it?" she groaned.

Cait, feeling a bit less terrified, responded with, "I...came by to...hopefully settle something I did a while ago that I...came to regret how I acted."

"Listen: I'm tired, my gut still hurts, and I'm feeling irritable...so what are you talking about again?" Aria asked.

"I'm talking about that time when I had that golden sphere thing in my hands. I tried to get your group to pay me for handing it over till Travis and Kyle shot down that idea. That's what I'm talking about." Cait said as she tried remembering where she placed something.

"...And after everything that happened...I'm supposed to just believe this is NOT going to happen again?" Aria's voice, however, suggested this was more grumpiness talking than anything else.

"Depends on whether you find this to be a sign I changed or I started going insane." Cait half-heartedly joked as she pulled out a heavy bag out of one of her pockets and handed it over to Aria.

Aria then took a moment to look it over, before asking, "And what is this?"

"Should be about 500 gold coins...Which means now I'm broke. And...don't bother with saying that you can't accept it...I don't want them anymore." Cait said as she visually showed signs of restraining herself from taking it back.

Aria looked at the bag, then back at Cait...before saying, "...Very well...I'll go take them and add them to the rest of the Shepherds' funds when...I'm a bit more awake…"

"Actually, I got something else I need to hand over as well…" Cait mentioned as she quickly placed the Pipboy into Aria's hands...and left before Aria could say anything.

Aria looked down at the Pipboy, and asked, "...Why did she give me this?" She thought a moment, then sighed. "Doesn't matter… … ...I need to wake up…"

* * *

Kyle finally woke up and started getting ready to get out of his bed. Once he was up, he immediately felt something was missing. He reflexly checked the arm that his Pipboy was on...before noticing that it was gone.

Then he remembered that Cait asked him if she could use his Pipboy...Which he agreed to without thinking about why she asked that. Kyle remained calm and decided to worry about it for later as he left his tent.

As Kyle wandered around the camp, a nagging thought was creeping into his mind. The thought being that he had to be somewhere...And then it hit him. He slept through the meeting he planned with Aria for today.

Quickly heading over to Aria's tent, Kyle entered the tent and started talking by saying, "Sorry about missing the usual time we have for the daily meetings we have...I overslept."

What met him was an initially irritated gaze...which immediately softened when Aria saw who was there. "Oh...Kyle...it's alright...I'm not at 100% myself, anyways…" she said, sitting at her desk looking over…a Pipboy.

Kyle immediately asked, "Uh...Aria...Why do you have that Pipboy on your desk?

"Cai-" Aria was interrupted when she yawned. She continued when her yawn ended. "Cait came by and left it here...after dropping off about 500 gold…"

Kyle made his way over to the desk as he retorted with, "500 gold? I guess Cait wanted to make up for something." Once he was close enough to the desk, he started hearing something, which made him say. "Do you hear that?"

"...Yeah...and it's getting irritating…" Aria repied.

Kyle located the source of the noise, which turned out to be from the Pipboy. After looking at it, he noticed the bar on the Geiger counter going up and down a bit fast.

He quickly grabbed the Pipboy and placed it back on his arm and made sure he was facing Aria. After a few seconds, Kyle checked through his Pipboy and got out two items.

"Aria...I hate to be breaking bad news to you...but I think you are starting to get Radiation sickness." Kyle said as he placed the two items on the desk in front of Aria.

As Kyle searched around Aria's tent, he started talking again as he said, "I need you to open up that bottle that has 'Rad-X' right about now, Aria."

Aria nodded, and opened the bottle.

"Now...You see the little things inside the bottle? I need you to take two of them and swallow them. Once you done that, get two more out and I'll come by to take them off your hands." Kyle said as he located the remains of the alarm clock.

"And should I-" Aria was cut off when she began coughing violently, beginning to feeling ill. "...On second thought, I'll take your word for it…" She then did as requested of her.

With Kyle carrying the remains of the alarm clock, he quickly saw the green liquid that was inside the bundle of parts. After getting over to Aria, he took the two Rad-X capsules and placed them inside the green liquid.

The green liquid quickly changed into a dirty gray color. Kyle placed his Pipboy over it and the Geiger counter didn't move a inch.

Kyle quickly told Aria what she had to do next, which was, "Okay...I got the source of radiation taken care of. But now onto the next step… ... ...You see that object that has 'RadAway' written on it, Aria?"

Aria nodded in reply.

Kyle quickly placed the junk he was carrying on the desk before he grabbed the RadAway bag. It took him a second, but he managed to get one side of the bag to be open. He took a deep breath before he continued talking.

"Okay...This is going to sound weird… ...You need to drink the entire amount of RadAway in this bag right now, Aria. And I'm just giving you a heads up and say that it's got a horrible taste...But you'll start feeling better once it's in your system." Kyle quickly said as he carefully handed the bag over to Aria.

Aria nodded, taking the bag, and started drinking from it...only to pause as she tasted the liquid. She halted, upon tasting the horrid taste. Then, realizing it was necessary, she continued drinking, bracing herself for the horrid taste. Once she'd downed the Rad-Away, she began gagging.

"Yeah...I hate the taste as well. And people in the Wasteland have to take this stuff whenever they need to remove the radiation in their system." Kyle commented.

Aria gave him an ill look. "Duly noted…" she said, still trying to keep from vomiting the sickening-tasting chemical.

"You know... I think I got something back in my tent that should help with dealing with the RadAway. I'll be right back...And try to not throw up while I'm gone." Kyle said after seeing how Aria looked.

The Courier left the tent and returned back after a minute or two. As he entered the tent, he quickly placed down the two filled bottles he was carrying on the desk.

The bottles were actually two bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla, with their caps still on them. Then Kyle turned his attention towards Aria.

Aria looked at the bottles for a moment, before looking back up at Kyle.

Taking one of the bottles and removing the cap, Kyle spoke up saying, "So...here is the item in question. It's a very popular drink from the Mojave region in the Wasteland called 'Sunset Sarsaparilla'. It turns out...these drinks help keep RadAway down after you take it...Somehow."

"... … ...Somehow?" Aria questioned.

It took a few seconds for Kyle to respond, but he did with, "It just does...I know because whenever I had to drink a bag of RadAway and felt like vomiting...A few sips of sarsaparilla calms everything down. It also helps replace the terrible taste with something much better."

Aria looked at the remaining bottle, before taking it and, with a little effort, removing the cap, before looking in the bottle at the liquid inside...before finally taking a sip of it. Deciding she much preferred the taste of Sunset Sarsaparilla, she began drinking the rest of it. "This is...actually pretty good…"

Kyle just smiled before he started drinking down his bottle. He drinks till the liquid inside stops at the middle of the bottle before he stops. As he does that, the cap in his other hand gets flipped around and Kyle quickly said, "And...No star on the cap."

"I think you should check the underside of that cap, Aria. You may have gotten one of the special bottles." Kyle hinted to Aria.

Aria picked the cap back up and looked at it...finding a blue, probably cyan, glowing star on it.

"Did you find a blue star cap, Aria?" Kyle asked.

Aria looked up at him, and nodded, showing it to him.

"There's the blue star I seen plenty of times… … Hey, you still have that one I gave you, right?" Kyle mentioned as he stared at the cap.

Aria immediately began digging into her coat's pockets, before drawing the the second star cap out of one of them.

"I'm sorry for asking out of the blue...But can I have that one back? I...had a small project that requires one." Kyle said as he avoided saying the real reason he wanted it..

Aria looked back at the cap with a disappointed look on her face.

"I...I'm going to give it back to you after I get that little project done...Trust me, you won't be disappointed." Kyle responded with as he saw the disappointed look.

Aria gave the cap one last look...before giving it back to Kyle.

Kyle muttered out a quick, "Thank you." before pocketing the cap in one of his pockets. He finished his bottle of sarsaparilla and looked around the tent for a few seconds.

Once he was done, Kyle told Aria, "Feel a bit better without having to worry about throwing up?"

Aria nodded a bit. "Yeah...a bit...still feel...a bit ill, though…"

"And I take it you don't want to risk going anywhere else except your bed to rest till the illness goes away?" Kyle noted as he located a good location to put a chair there.

Aria nodded a bit, before coughing a little. "...Yeah...as much as I'm needed...I don't think I'll do anyone any good in this state…"

"I agree...But you'll also need someone to help keep an eye on you, just in case. Thankfully, I'm available at the moment." Kyle said before giving a small smile to Aria.

Aria returned the smile, replying, "Thank you…"

* * *

The next location of interest was this large valley that was suppose to be inhabited by the flying lizard creatures called Wyverns. Its name was fittingly called Wyvern Valley.

While the Wastelanders didn't comment about the name of the valley, they were a bit nervous about the fact that it was where feral wyverns lived. Despite that, they followed along with the Shepherds as they travelled down the road to the valley.

Once they arrived, the situation became something much more familiar, and by familiar, it was in reference to the brigands in the valley. In short, there were a lot of brigands in the northern section and there were defenceless villagers located at different areas in the southern section.

Of course, there was a catch. The valley had small bits of land that were separated by these massive chasms that took up a large part of the landscape. There was however a few bridges that allowed passage between the small islands of land.

With Aria being unable to participate, someone had to take her role in preparing for the battle. The person who stepped up was Travis. While there was a few looks and questions thrown around when Travis volunteered, they stopped once he started giving orders.

Travis came up with a plan that involved setting up a defensive perimeter around the southern section of the valley. Anyone who was able to pick off the enemy from range was assigned to help form the perimeter. Everyone else was either there to provide backup to the defenders or be part of the offensive group that was tasked to carefully advance north.

The people paired up with each other was generally the same, which meant Travis and Cait were working together. Then there was Leon, who got tasked to work with Veronica. However, Dogmeat managed to get the short end of the stick.

Because Kyle was back at camp with Aria, the dog ended up being the only one to not have a partner. Or so it seemed...

* * *

After everyone was ready and in position, a masked figure in armor showed up near the group. The young man had light blue hair, and wore almost-pitch-black armor, with a mask covering part of his face. He was accompanied by a somewhat old and battered looking Wyvern.

Travis decided to take a risk and ask the young man what he was doing here, which ended up creating a very short conversation between the two. The only information Travis was able to get was the name of the young man, which was Gerome.

What happened next was that Travis had to account for Gerome being involved in the battle. To somewhat help keep track on him, Leon was told to command Dogmeat to go follow Gerome. Dogmeat did as he was told and ended up becoming Gerome's unofficial partner.

The battle started when a few brigands riding wyverns started moving south towards the group. As soon as they were visible, they started getting picked off one by one. Some went down due to be hit by arrows, others by magic or bullets.

Leon and Travis were right next to each other as they formed a sort of game between them. They were keeping track of how many brigands they were able to pick off. So far, Travis was in the lead with 5 brigands while Leon was at 3. This game continued as they started moving to the next island to set up a new perimeter.

While the two snipers were busy, Cait and Veronica acted as their backup when brigands tried moving across the bridges to reach them. For the brigands that met Cait, she either slashed them down with the officer's sword or bashed them down with the super sledge. The ones who ran into Veronica didn't fare any better.

The brigands trying to attack Veronica ended up getting defeated after one solid punch with her power fist gauntlet. This continued until one brigand managed to get extremely unlucky. As the brigand charged Veronica, she ended up landing a solid uppercut on his face. The force of the punch managed to get him off the ground and into the air...and down into the chasm below.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dogmeat was still tagging along with Gerome. The two made their way across the battlefield taking care of any brigands that crossed their paths. As the battle dragged on, they found a way to reach the northern section of the valley, except where they were was in the northeast to be more specific.

The Brigand leader was standing around, unaware that the men he was leading were losing. He scanned the surrounding area, noticing a dog and a wyvern rider heading towards him. The tomahawk he was carrying was finally going to see some action.

As soons as Dogmeat saw the brigand leader, he started running towards the man. Covering the distance between them quickly, Dogmeat ended up jumping as he tried to bite the brigand's hand clutching the tomahawk. It worked as Dogmeat managed to chomp down on the man's hand, casing him to drop the weapon.

The leader tried to force Dogmeat off, which he did after kicking Dogmeat a few times. The dog did not appreciate that and retaliated by biting the other hand really hard. With both hands in constant pain, the only way the brigand was able to defend himself was by kicking Dogmeat to keep him away.

What he failed to account for was the wyvern rider, which resulted in him getting a steel axe to hit him in one of his legs. This provided a distraction that Dogmeat used to aim his next bite at the brigand's face.

Dogmeat jumped up once again and landed the bite on the brigand. The pain from every attack that landed on him finally took its toll as the man collapsed. He was still alive at this point, but Dogmeat didn't care about that.

The dog immediately started tearing through the brigand's armor and found a large bag with some gold bars in it. After dragging it away from the brigand, Dogmeat started growling. The brigand heard that and started crawling away in fear.

This continued until the brigand leader was right next to a cliff leading down into the chasm below. Dogmeat stopped once the man was unable to move any further and waited for the right moment to strike. The brigand started losing some of the fear he was having and stood up to taunt Dogmeat.

Once the man was done taunting, Dogmeat barked one time before charging at the brigand. The brigand ended up foolishly stepping back as part of the cliff broke off. He ended up falling backwards down into the chasm as he screamed and panicked.

* * *

The battle ended at some point and Dogmeat ended up dragging the bag of gold with him back to the Wastelanders. When the bag was taken by Leon, Dogmeat looked around as he waited for Leon to tell him it was time to leave.

Dogmeat ended up seeing Gerome again, except this time, he was talking to Cherche about something as far as Dogmeat could tell. Whatever it was, Dogmeat just watched the two talk until Leon started talking.

"C'mon Dogmeat, it's time to head back to camp." Leon said before whistling to get Dogmeat to follow him.

The wasteland mutt stopped looking at Gerome and Cherche and headed towards Leon. Once Dogmeat was by Leon's side, they began moving back towards the camp. Everyone else soon followed them as the sun started to set.

End Chapter 13.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back to the two bots***

 **Magma Bot: "So...that was the end of the footage. And we have good news, we finally came up with something."**

 ***Magma Bot ends up pulling out a script that looks like it was made in the last two minutes.***

 **Magma Bot: *Reading the script aloud, "The footage we just showed you has some interesting trivia associated with it. For one, it is the first time that the dog interacted with someone from the future."**

 ***Magma Bot passes the script over to Ice Bot.***

 **Ice Bot: "It's also the first time Aria and Kyle were left out of the battle...also the second time that a Wastelander directly or CLOSELY indirectly but unintentionally caused harm to a Shepherd...interestingly enough: said Shepherd both times was Aria… … ...do you think she has some kind of bad luck, when it comes to the Wasteland?"**

 **Magma Bot: "Who knows? All I know is that Kyle is always there to help Aria...Though I get the feeling that alarm clock was not the cause of the radiation sickness."**

 **Ice Bot: "Really? What do you mean?"**

 **Magma Bot: "I think the radiation came from a different source...Because the small amount of radioactive material in the clock would have not caused sickness unless a very large amount of time passed."**

 **Ice Bot: "You forget this WOULD have been the VERY FIRST time that ANYONE from that world has had a run in with gamma radiation...could have been that because of that, the reaction was more pronounced and severe than if, say, someone from the quote-on-quote 'real world', or, heaven forbid, a WASTELANDER, was exposed to it…"**

 **Magma Bot: "Yeah...now that you say that, it makes more sense."**

* * *

 **Magma Bot: *Looks at Ice Bot for a sec before saying, "You know...I just thought about something."***

 **Ice Bot: "What?"**

 **Magma Bot: "Aren't we supposed to be based on those guys called MarkMartinMagma and IceBite?"**

 **Ice Bot: "...Yeah...what about it?"**

 **Magma Bot: "I say that because I was wondering if you were on my shoulders and activated the camouflage mode, would the two of us be able to look exactly like that 'IceBite' fellow?**

 **Ice Bot: "... … ...I...don't know…"**

 **Magma Bot: "I think we can. Remember the time we were posing as MarkMartinMagma?"**

 **Ice Bot: "How can I forget?! I still remember how that meek little white-haired princess nearly kicked my faceplate in, when those 'Riders' used their finishers on us…"**

 **Magma Bot: "Not to mention that tactician...She busted up several areas of my arm and leg parts with that barrage of attacks." *Takes a moment to check his arms and legs and slamming them back into place.***

 **Ice Bot: "Yeah, how can I forget?" *beats a loosening panel on his back with his fist, popping it back into place* "OW! Why was I programmed to feel pain?!"**

 **Magma Bot: *In a confused tone, "You were not programmed to feel pain...I was the only one who got that.**

 **Ice Bot: "What're you talking about?** _ **I**_ **was the one that got that! Unless… … ..."**

 ***Raspberry sounds from one of the computer terminals***

 **Ice Bot: "GAAAHHHH! CURSE THAT DAMNED AI?! WHAT THE HELL?!"**

 **Magma Bot: *Checks the terminal as he says, "Relax, it was a pre-recorded audio track...Wait, there's a message on here that wasn't answered."***

 ***Magma Bot activates the message. Audio starts playing as a voice says, "** _ **Ovx-09 Code override. Change Pain Sensors Data**_ **."**

 **Magma Bot: *Stares at Ice Bot for a sec, before lightly punching Ice Bot and saying, "Do you still pain right now?"***

 **Ice Bot: "...Actually...no…" *waits a moment...before punching Magma Bot in the arm***

 **Magma Bot: *Reels back as he says, "OWWW!"***

 **Ice Bot: "So it WAS me that was the one who got the Pain-feeling Programming initially...and that code swapped it around! HAH! Maybe now I don't have to-"**

 **Magma Bot: *Shushs Ice Bot before whispering, "** _ **Quiet...I hear something coming towards this room."***_

 ***The two bots remain quiet as they do hear what sounds to be a small group heading towards the room they were in.***

 **Magma Bot: *Still whispering, "** _ **We need to activate Camo mode now...So, get on my shoulders and activate that mode before whoever is coming here finds us."***_

 **Ice Bot: "Alright…" *hops onto Magma Bot's shoulders***

 ***The Camo mode activates and the two robots now look like IceBite.**

* * *

 **Fake IceBite: *watches as a brown-haired young man walked in***

 **?: "Ah, someone's here! Greetings, I am Owain! A pleasure to meet you, Sir… … …"**

 **Fake IceBite: "...Just call me IceBite…"**

 **Owain: "I see. So…'IceBite', I heard that my cousin was here. Can you tell me where she is?"**

 **Fake IceBite: "She's out currently with the others on a vacation. Unfortunately, I forgot where they went and the directions were taken so…" *shrugs***

 **Owain: "I see...then I and my companions shall stay until my family returns!"**

 **? (Purple): "WEEEEEE! SLEEP OVER!**

 **? (Red): "Oi! Quiet down!"**

 **? (Purple): "Oh, stop ruining my fun, Baka-Momotaros!"**

 **Momotaros: "Why you-"**

 **Owain: "Silence my comrades! Let us go find a room! Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, Ryutaros, Sieg? Let's GO!"**

 ***Owain and the Taros leave the main studio room***

 **Fake IceBite: *waits until the group has left...before separating***

 **Ice Bot: *nervous* "...How much you wanna bet those weird guys with Owain are Kamen Rider-related?"**

 **Magma Bot: "I'm not a betting robot...But I'm 100% sure they are related to something involving Kamen Riders...So, WE better come up with a plan to deal with them sooner or later.**

 **Magma Bot: *Looks at the camera before saying to Ice Bot, "By the way, I think that camera needs to be turned off. Do you want to me to do it or will you?"***

 **Ice Bot: "...Meh…" *goes over and turns off the camera***

 **End Author's Notes**


	14. Chapter 14: Bitter Criticism

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***The camera can see Magma Bot and Ice Bot. Magma Bot is holding a large clear bag filled with small squarish candy. Ice Bot, on the other hand, has a few flash drives in his hands, each labeled with a number and title.**

 **Magma Bot: "Okay...I got what I was searching for. You got the drives for the next set of FFNA chapters?"**

 **Ice Bot: *nods and holds up the flash drives***

 **Magma Bot: "Okay...Now we need to insert the drive that has 'Chapter 14' into the terminal. I'll make sure the camera is working while you go do that."**

 ***A minute or two of technical setup later…***

 ***The two robots are in front of the camera looking at it before one of them starts talking.***

 **Magma Bot: "Welcome back. I'm Magma Bot."**

 **Ice Bot: "And IIIIIIIIIIIII'M Ice Bot!"**

 **Magma Bot: "So...We have a lot planned for today. The first part will be showing off the new chapter."**

 ***Magma Bot cues Ice Bot to get the footage started.***

 **Ice Bot: *nods and inserts the drive***

 ***Chapter 14 starts loading… loading.***

 ***Loading...loading complete.***

 ***Chapter 14 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Bitter Criticism**

 **Back at the Shepherds' Camp…**

While the Shepherds and Wastelanders were in transit back to the camp, things were going well back at the camp. Kyle was busy with cooking up bear meat, while Aria was still in bed recovering from the radiation sickness.

Once the meat was done being cooked and prepared, Kyle got two plates and placed two decent portions on them. He also grabbed two sets of utensils as he moved towards Aria's tent.

Taking a moment to move the tent flap out of the way, the Courier entered as the smell of the food did the same. Kyle headed over to Aria's bed, sitting down in a nearby chair as Aria looked up from the book she was reading.

"I know your tactical mind needs to be running every moment when you have to study...But I'm sure it can't be working efficiently on a empty stomach, Aria." Kyle stated.

Aria smiled. "Thanks," she replied, accepting the food.

The two began eating and after some time passed, the familiar sounds of life associated with the camp returned. It meant the other Shepherds and Wastelanders were back from exploring the nearby valley.

"So, how are you feeling now, Aria?" Kyle asked after they finished eating.

"Better…" Aria replied, "I feel I may be up for aiding in the next battle maybe… … ...so long as I keep resting until then, I guess…"

"Speaking of battles, I wonder if our group got into one while we were here at camp. If they did...I wonder who took your role, Aria." Kyle said.

"...So do I…" the tactician replied.

The tent flap was moved and Travis walked in, holding a set of papers with a lot of information on them. As Travis spotted Aria and Kyle, he spoke up saying, "I hope you two are doing well...you missed out on a interesting battle."

There was no response from either of them, so Travis continued with, "I got a report about the battle. It mainly focuses on about the environment of the battlefield and the list of wounded from the battlefield...Which you really should check out, Aria."

Aria nodded. "Alright then…" she replied, waiting to receive the report.

Travis handed the report over and waited for Aria to finish reading it before talking more about what happened in Wyvern Valley.

Basically, the report described the terrain the battle took place in...and the wounded list reported that...no one was wounded in the battle. That relieved Aria greatly.

Travis spoke up asking, "So...Do you have any questions you need answered, Aria? I...got other information I didn't put on the report."

"...Why do I have a feeling we have a new member?" Aria asked a little wryly.

"Because we do...The newest member of the Shepherds is a young man named Gerome. And yes...he is from the future. I think his mother was Cherche...If I remember the name correctly." Travis stated.

Aria nodded, thinking, before then asking, "...Who took my place in the battle, by the way? Who came up with the strategy?"

"You're looking at him, right now." Travis humbly noted.

"Oh...I see…" Aria replied, before thinking a bit. "...Ah! That's right: you were the General of that one group...the one like the Shepherds...the...Minutemen! Right?"

"Yeah...That's right. The Minutemen are the organization I belong to...Except I don't think they are as similar to the Shepherds as you think." Travis noted.

"Well, both organizations work to protect the regions they inhabit...that's a similarity…" Aria commented.

"True...but the Minutemen are mainly made of Commonwealth citizens who volunteer willingly to defend settlements...And these are just normal people who believe in the cause." Travis commented.

"Donnel and Olivia were technically normal people when they joined up, and Vaike was just a street urchin before he joined up, if I recall his story properly," Aria commented, "And those are just the ones I know of…"

"Well...There is still one other major difference between our two groups." Travis said before pulling out his Laser Musket and continued with, "The Minutemen have two vital pieces of equipment that makes them who they are. The first one is this Laser Musket, which every single Minutemen has one. The second one is the Artillery weapons we have placed around the Commonwealth."

"Well, considering our worlds, our equipment can't necessarily be the same… … ...that and I'm sure our Thunder Tomes and ballistae can serve, if not as equals, then at least as analogues to your stuff…"

Travis remained silent for a moment, before saying, "I must admit...After listening to everything you said so far about the Shepherds, I'm glad I decided to work with you and them. And yes, the similarities shared between the Minutemen and Shepherds really shows me how I made the right decision."

"In other words, I'm saying "Thank You" for allowing me to help out, Aria." Travis quickly added before he stopped talking.

Aria smiled and nodded. "No problem…"

* * *

 **A few days later…**

With the passage of time taking place, Aria was finally back on her feet. And it couldn't have come at a better time because the ongoing search of the future children lead to another location.

This particular location was in this desert region and instead of a small town, it was a massive fortress. According to the locals in the surrounding area, the fortress was under control of a former general that ended up becoming the ringleader of a band of brigands. Naturally, the locals were missing various goods because of these brigands.

So the Shepherds and Wastelanders traveled to the fort with some members eager to stop the brigands. Others, however, were eager to get into a massive fight or to scavenge the fort after it was cleared.

If anyone asked Cait what she was planning on accomplishing, it would definitely be the last case. The Irish redhead was thinking about sneaking off during the fight to go searching for valuables until Aria was heard giving orders to everyone.

With Aria back, the plan to attack the fort was formed after Aria scanned the area. Unfortunately, as she did that, a brigand ended up seeing the massive group from one of the entrances into the structure. The original plan had to be reworked due to the loss of the element of surprise, but Aria quickly adapted.

In short, due to the fort having two entrances right next to each other, it required the group to split up. One larger group was assigned to the left entrance to draw attention, while a smaller group took the right to take care of any brigand they find.

Kyle, Aria, Leon, and Dogmeat took were taking the left entrance, while Cait, Travis, and Veronica were tackling the other entrance. The pairs were in the order listed, which meant Veronica was by herself.

* * *

After getting in place, Cait was readying her weapons when she spotted someone inside the fort heading towards the entrance. The individual was a young woman with her white (or maybe pale blonde) hair done up in two ponytails, while wearing basic Mercenary Gear, armed with a Steel Sword. She had the expression of someone that...just didn't want to be there.

Cait allowed the woman to get a bit closer before deciding to yell out, "HEY! YOU THERE WITH THE TWO PONYTAILS! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT, YOU BETTER LEAVE!"

The girl looked at Cait. "Sorry...can't do that...the brigand in charge of these guys has something important to me...and the dastard's using it as a leash…" The second part was mostly mumbled, but still audible enough to hear.

Cait responded back with, "You shouldn't worry about the moron in charge...Everyone out here with me is looking to end his band of brigands. So...Unless you plan on helping us, you'll have to wait till we clear out the entire fort before we let you get your stuff."

"...Who are you all, anyways?" the girl asked.

"Ever heard of the 'Shepherds'? That's who I am working for at the moment." Cait answered.

"The Shepherds?" The girl's eyes seemed to widen in recognition, before she began thinking. "And...is there a woman named 'Cordelia' with you, by any chance?"

"I'm not liable to say at the moment...But If you help us out, we can get you to meet the person with that name. Do we have a deal?" Cait said.

"Hmmm...alright: there's another person here, a villager named Holland. He doesn't want to be here anymore than I do: if you help me get over to him so I can convince him to leave, I'll help you take Nelson, the boss of the brigands here, down…"

Cait thought out her response before replying with, "Well...I hope for your sake you know how to fight...Because I don't like escorting brats that can't fight."

"Hey, I'll have you know, I certainly CAN fight…" She then muttered to herself, "Wouldn't have survived Grima's takeover if I hadn't."

Cait did manage to make out the mumbling and retorted with, "I don't know what a "Grima" is, but I'll take your word that you can fight...for now. By the way, if you need my name, it's Cait."

"Oh...And if you got something you want to keep to yourself, keep in in your mind instead of talking out loud." Cait quickly said, albeit in a somewhat mocking tone.

The girl jolted, before grumbling something irritably.

"You haven't told me your name yet...And I'm sure it's not what you just grumbled." Cait noted as she waited for the girl to respond.

"My name's Severa…" the girl replied.

"Huh...I expected it be something more like 'Grumbles'." Cait intallity said before quickly following up with, "But being serious now, you better be ready to get moving." What followed was Cait deliberty pulling out her shotgun and priming the gun to fire.. All the while sporting a devious smile.

* * *

Shortly after Cait and Severa were done talking, the fort started being attacked by the Shepherds and Wastelanders.

Kyle rushed forward into the entrance with Aria following behind him. Armed with his dual weapon setup, The Courier spotted two axe carrying brigands in his path. Taking a moment to aim Lucky, he fired two bullets at the brigand on the left.

The bullets hit the brigand dead on and spooked the other one. Using that moment, Kyle sprinted towards the brigand before pulling off a unique attack.

The attack was based off a technique called the 'Legion Assault', which Kyle demonstrated. He initially jumped before aiming his armed gauntlet directly at the brigand's torso. The punch, helped by the momentum, landed a solid hit on the brigand before the barrels on the gauntlet went off.

The brigand ended up collapsing backwards from the overwhelming pain. As he fell down, another brigand further down the corridor heard the fight. This one ran towards the noise to avenge his comrade using the sword he was carrying.

As soon as Kyle saw the swordwielder, he prepared himself to dodge any attack. The brigand charged and tried to slash Kyle down with the sword. Kyle dodged and followed up with performing a leg sweep to knock the brigand down to his knees.

It worked and brought the brigand down to his knees, which Kyle used to his advantage. Using another technique referred to as the 'Ranger Takedown', Kyle forced his ballistic fist covered palm straight into the brigand's nose. The impact knocked the brigand onto his back, where Kyle finished the man off by firing a round from Lucky.

Aria, meanwhile, switched constantly between her tomes and sword, sometimes fighting an enemy mercenary sword-on-sword, other times she would switch to a tome to fight an armored opponent.

As that went on, a brigand managed to sneak by Aria while she was fighting one of his cohorts. The brigand was aiming a shot with a bow...Before he launched the arrow prematurely and completely missed. He felt something struck him in his gut before he turned to see Kyle, already firing Lucky again at the brigand.

This new shot ended up hitting the brigand in the torso again, except ending his life at this point. Once the corridor was cleared, Kyle spoke up saying to Aria, "By the way, you let a brigand get by you and almost let him hit you with a arrow...Except I was there to stop him."

Aria's eyes widened at the severity of her mess up. "...Uhm...thanks for the help…"

"No problem...Just watch what goes on around you, and if you can't...I can." Kyle said to reassure Aria.

Aria nodded and smiled. "Alright...thank you…"

Kyle just smiled back before he reloaded Lucky and continued advancing with Aria next to him.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Leon and Dogmeat were in a different corridor that splitted off from the path Aria and Kyle took. As the Lone Wanderer advanced, several brigands ran into the hallway further up ahead. Taking a quick moment to swap weapons, Leon aimed the custom assault rifle and started firing onto the group.

The spray of bullets took down 3 brigands wearing light armor, while two more heavily armored got wounded. The rest either didn't get hit, or somehow got lucky to be behind the heavy armor comrades.

Reloading the gun, Leon fired again, this time in short bursts to dampen the recoil affecting his accuracy. This time, 4 brigands were down, including the two armored fellows and the ones behind them.

Leon carefully moved forward, getting ready to turn the corner when a brigand surprised him by knocking the rifle out of his hands and headbutting Leon. The impact stunned Leon for a second, allowing the brigand to try landing a hit with his axe. The axe did manage to hit Leon's armor, which did absorb some of the damage.

Then the brigand heard something growling and got pounced by Dogmeat, aiming his teeth for the brigand's leg. The pain from the bite made the brigand end up kicking Dogmeat hard with his other leg.

It turned out to be a bad idea...The moment Leon heard Dogmeat getting hurt, Leon immediately grabbed his rifle off the ground and slammed the butt of the rifle into the brigand's face. What followed was a harsh beatdown from Leon.

As it went on, Leon blurted out, "NEVER…HARM...MY DOG!" to the brigand. The brigand was scared out of wits as Leon ended the beatdown by driving his elbow into the brigand's head.

Dogmeat ended up barking, getting Leon to focus his attention on his partner. Leon calmed down and took a sec to say, "Sorry for making you see that boy...you know how much I care about you."

The dog simply responded by jumping on Leon and giving him a few licks on his face to say that he appreciated what his master did. The two eventually got up and went back to focus on fighting off the brigands that were heading in their direction.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

On a different side of the fort, Travis was switching constantly between using his modified bat and sword as brigands tried to surround him. The ones in front of him tried to stay outside of the range of his swings by moving back as the ones behind Travis followed at a distance.

Getting tired of the situation he was in, Travis replaced his bat with his silenced pistol. Activating VATS, Travis highlighted the four brigands in front and started firing. Eight shots rang out and each brigand was hit twice in the torso. They collapsed to the ground, giving Travis a chance to stop.

He quickly yelled out, "Veronica, attack now!".

The brigands behind Travis were confused...when one of them suddenly felt a hard blunt-ish impact on their back. Then another one got hit, and another one...until the last brigand fell to the ground to join the other five already down there.

"Good job on taking out the brigands, Veronica." Travis apparently said out loud, when it seemed no one else was there.

A voice answered back saying, "Thanks...But it felt too easy when they couldn't see me as I punched them.", which did match Veronica's voice.

"However, it still worked and allowed us to get an advantage over these jerks...I say it was worth pulling off this trick." Travis responded with as he reloaded his gun.

Just before Veronica started talking, the sound associated with a Stealth Boy's invisibility field deactivating rang out. The invisible former scribe turned back into being visible and retorted with a disappointed comment of, "And it ends just when I was done getting used to not being able to see my own hands."

"While you get use to see yourself again from your own eyes...I think we should change our roles for our next attempt of our little 'trick'." Travis said as he got out another Stealth Boy.

After a minute passed, Veronica finally got readjusted and agreed to switch and act as the distraction. They continued down the path they were exploring and ran into another group of brigands...Which led to Travis activating the Stealth Boy.

The brigands ended up falling for the trick, which ended with 7 brigands getting launched across the hallway by a hidden Wastelander armed with a modified metal stick. Once it was over, Travis and Veronica compliment each other on their performance before continuing on with the battle.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The northeast section of the fort was cleared out of every brigand, save for one particular individual. As Cait and Severa entered the room they were heading into, they saw something that caught their attention.

For Cait, it was the large chest she saw tucked away in one of the corners. For Severa, it was the lone individual in the room. The individual was a man wearing a outfit that signaled he was from the local village.

The two girls splitted off as they both told each other, "Wait here, I have to go take care of something." without actually bothering to check if the other was waiting.

Cait ended up near the chest and checked to see if was locked, which it was. She pulled out her lock picking set, which included a recently cleaned screwdriver and a few bobby pins. As Cait picked the lock, she somewhat overheard the conversation Severa was having, initially thinking Severa was talking to herself again.

Once the lock was taken care of, Cait opened the chest and quickly grab its contents. She managed to pull out a sword that took a few seconds for her to realise that it was a Levin Sword.

As Cait placed the Levin Sword into a spare holster, she turned to spot Severa by herself. She started speaking a thought in her mind which was, "Hey Severa, I thought I told you to wait till I got back. Instead I overheard you talking to yourself again and outside the spot you were suppose to stick at."

"The man standing there was the person I wanted to talk to...he's on his way back to his family now…" A wistful look came to Severa's face as she looked down and muttered quietly, "At least that's one family not torn apart…"

"So that means you met that 'Holland' guy you were looking for. It also explains part of what I overheard when you were talking to him when I was opening that chest over there." Cait said before pointing out the item in question.

"And don't think of dodging the next question I'm going to ask...I heard your little comment about a torn family...So, why did you say that?" Cait stated as she waited for Severa to respond back.

Severa just looked shocked, unsure of how to respond.

"Okay...since I'm not getting an answer right away, I'm going to say it for you. Now, I'm not fully sure about this...But I got a hunch. When you said that comment about a torn family, I take it you lost someone very dear to you in your family. And based on the little bits of info I heard from your conversation from before, it was one of your parents, wasn't it?" Cait said as she thought it out.

Severa seemed a little nervous, before replying, "Both, actually…"

"Okay...So, I take it one of your parents was named 'Cordelia'?" Cait added after hearing Severa's response.

Severa, still surprised, replied, "...Yes…"

A interesting thought arose in Cait's mind. She knew information that Severa probably would like to know..Except there was a problem. The problem being that Cait had a chance to make some money for herself if she made Severa pay for getting to know. And at the same time, Cait's conscience was making her go against her desire to make money.

After taking a few seconds to decide, Cait bluntly responded with, "I was going to tell you after we take care of that moron called Nelson...But your mother is here in this fort, fighting with the Shepherds as I speak."

Severa's eyes widened, before her expression softened, and she smiled. "...Thank you for telling me… … ...So, how's about we finish this? Nelson's in the back of the fortress, so we'll have to fight through some more of the brigands to get to him."

"Then let's stop talking and go get him." Cait said as she pulled out her Supersledge.

 **Some amount of time later...**

After dealing with some reinforcements that arrived from a lower floor in the fortress, the two made their way to the very back end of the structure. Stopping for a moment to check the room from a corner, Cait peeked around to see a lone brigand.

Letting Severa take a moment to see for herself, she confirmed that the brigand was Nelson. Cait formed a plan in her mind and passed it along to her tag-along as she got ready.

In the next few seconds, Cait sprinted away from the corner towards Nelson. The leader noticed Cait and cast out a Thoron projectile to stop her. The beam of lightning nearly missed Cait as she dodged in time. Cait reciprocated by throwing her Supersledge after building up some momentum caused by the attached engine on the hammer.

The Supersledge was suppose to hit Nelson's head...but it ended up hitting somewhere lower than his cranium. Suffice to say, he did get hit in the head...And the result stunned him long enough to let Cait close the distance and dislodge the tome in his hands.

Cait followed up by stomping on his legs and arms with her feet a few times before she signaled Severa to approach them. Once Severa was there, Cait moved out of the way and gladly said, "Don't worry about him attacking back, I made sure he won't be able to do that. And you get the honors...So do whatever you feel you have to do."

Severa looked the fallen brigand leader over, before seeing something on his person: she knelt down and took a ring off of the man...before taking her sword and decapitating him.

There was some silence in the air until Cait ended up saying, "We should get going right about now...But I need to search the body before we leave."

"What for?" Severa asked, confused.

"For anything valuable, which at this point is everything in his possession. So unless you want to help out me carrying the stuff, I recommend being quiet as I work." Cait answered back as she started searching.

Severa just nodded and kept out of the way, mostly looking at the ring she'd retrieved from Nelson, making sure it was undamaged. A few minutes passed and Cait announced, "Okay, I got 'everything' valuable packed away from this guy."

Severa looked at Nelson...and quickly turned back to Cait. "...Did you REALLY have to take his clothes as well? It's going to take a LOT to make me un-see that…"

"Yes...I REALLY had to...It's one of the tasks I have to do working with the little group I'm a part of that is helping the Shepherds. And to help distract what you seen...stare at this thing instead." Cait retorted as she removed the Levin Sword from the holster and handed it to Severa.

"Huh? Where'd you find THIS?" Severa asked, looking the sword over.

"I found it in the room where you were talking to Holland...It was in a locked chest and I unlocked it by myself." Cait noted in a smug tone.

"Hmmm…" Severa sounded, still looking over the Levin Sword, "So...you've had training as a Thief then? They typically have that skill…"

"First off...I'm not a thief...I'm a expert scavenger. And second, whatever 'skill' thieves around here are suppose to have is nothing compared to what I do." Cait said, slightly irritated. She continued with, "What I do is take these two 'objects' right here and be able to pick any type of lock open." as she pulled out the screwdriver and bobby pins, showing them to Severa.

Severa looked the two sets of items over, before saying, "Hmmm...that's new, I guess...although thieves typically use lockpicks…"

"I just said...Forget it. I'm heading out right now and I suggest you do the same...Also, I'm going to need that sword back when we get outside...Just telling you in advance." Cait commented in a more irate tone.

"Alright…" Severa replied, passing the Levin Sword took the sword and placed it back in the holster and started walking back to the front of the fort with Severa following along.

* * *

 **An hour later…**

The fort was empty and the brigands inside were defeated. The Wastelanders took their time to scavenge the whole structure and met back up with Kyle at one of the entrances. They started to wonder where Cait was until they saw her leaving the fort with Severa not too far behind her.

As Cait made her way to the group, she spotted Cordelia not that far away from her current location. She quickly turned around towards Severa and pointed out where Cordelia was before catching up with the other Wastelanders.

What followed was the usual meeting where the Wastelanders talked about what they found...except it got interrupted by the interaction between Severa and Cordelia. Once it was over, Leon decided to comment on something that arose in his mind.

"So...I take it you were the one to meet that gal who was talking with Cordelia not too long ago, right?" Leon said to Cait.

"Yeah, I did. Her name's Severa by the way...And Cordelia is her mother from what I been told by Severa herself." Cait noted.

"Huh...Did you happen to ask who her father was? The color of her hair seems familiar…" Leon asked as his mind started working, trying to answer a hunch he was getting.

"Never asked her who it was...Though she did do something odd. I can tell she was mad at the brigand leader for taking an important item from her...But when I gave her the chance to get payback, she removed his head from the shoulders…" Cait said, unaware of the significance of what she said.

The words entered Leon's mind and much like a missile getting fired at a Sentry Bot at very high speeds, it all came crashing together...or something like that. The point was that Leon figured out who the father of Severa was...And he didn't like knowing it.

"Guys...I think I figured out who the father was." Leon noted in a nervous tone.

Cait spoke up saying, 'And...Who is it, Leon?"

"I think Severa's father is Henry...You know, the same Henry that likes seeing blood and guts…With the white hair that looks just like Severa's hair..." Leon noted in the same tone.

"Why would that psycho...Actually, that does explain why Severa was willing to chop off the leader's head. Now if you excuse me, I need to try to forget that before I can't." Cait said in a rather negative tone throughout.

And much like Cait, everyone else but Leon had the same thought as they also said some similar things. The Wastelanders continued their meeting and Kyle told everyone to begin heading back to camp.

* * *

Kyle originally had a thought about how Cait was acting and how much better she was acting around camp...but he kept thinking about something else. This continued for the rest of the day until Aria asked Kyle at one point what was bothering him.

After telling Aria about it, she commented on how she'd paired them up for a few battles, and how afterwards, they'd begun hanging out around camp...she went on to note how many of the Shepherds ended up paired together through Aria's own usual pair-ups for combat.

Kyle noted that detail, but quickly commented that it made since it was an effective idea and the results were worth whatever happened around camp. The discussion ended a bit after that and the Courier and Tactician returned to their own tents to sleep and rest from participating in the battle.

End Chapter 14.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back to Magma Bot and Ice Bot.***

 ***Instead of talking right away, Magma Bot can be seen trying to clean his mouth, which seems to be covered in chewed up candy. Ice Bot was standing there, baffled at what he was seeing.***

 **Ice Bot: *sighs* "He ate some Knock-Off Starbursts, and now he has to clean out his vocal cogitators, due to them being all gummed up,** _ **especially since robots**_ _ **DON'T NEED TO EAT…**_ **"**

 **Magma Bot: *Tries talking, but the only noises that come out sound unintelligible.***

 **Magma Bot: *Gestures towards Ice Bot, trying to indicate that he needs something to write down what he was trying to say.***

 **Ice Bot: *sighs and passes over a notebook and pencil***

 **Magma Bot: *Takes the notebook and pencil and starts writing. He shows the camera and Ice Bot that he wrote, "Thank you, Ice Bot."***

 **Magma Bot: *Writes down, "For those wondering about the candy, I found it in a hidden spot. I think it belongs to M3 since I know he loves these types of sweets."***

 **Ice Bot: "... … ...I felt a Disturbance in the Force, as though a certain Author senses the devouring of his candies and secretly plots to uncover who it is and annihilate them…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Gives the camera a aside glance before writing, "Ignore him, he's acting paranoid."***

* * *

 ***Somewhere far away from the Studio… M3 and the other residents can be seen resting at a beach. M3 himself is sleeping on a chair underneath a large umbrella.***

 ***M3 suddenly wakes up as if there was a disturbance in the force and turns his attention to IceBite, who was sleeping on a chair nearby that was under more cover from the sun.***

 **M3: *Trying to wake Ice up, "Ice...Ice...Wake up. I had this strange feeling my stash of candy back at the Studio was being eaten."***

 **IceBite: "Wha-huh! ZOMBIES! WARGS! ZOMBIES RIDING WARGS!" *looks around* "... … ...AGAIN!"**

 **M3: *Ignoring what Ice was dreaming, "Good...You're awake. I think someone got into the studio and found my candy and is eating it as I speak. I think we have to cancel the vacation and head back now."***

 **IceBite: "...You serious...you sure you're not being paranoid?"**

 **M3: *Thinking it over, "Yeah...I think I need to relax more...There's no way anyone can find where I hid the candy anyway. Thanks for getting me to calm down, Ice."***

 **IceBite: *nods, lays down, before sighing* "Well...I'm awake now…" *goes to playing Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade on his iPhone***

 **M3: *Does the same, except he realises that he doesn't like being at the beach at all. "I just remembered that I hate being on the beach...I'm heading inside to go watch tv."***

 **IceBite: *pauses* "...Yeah, I hate the beach too…"**

 ***M3 and Ice leave the beach and head inside a large private beach house located right near the beach.***

* * *

 ***Back at the studio with the bots.***

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "Moving on, You got any comments about this chapter, Ice Bot?"***

 **Ice Bot: "...Not much, really...curious why it was chosen to have Cait meet Severa; basically, to have the Jerkass Woobie of the Wastelanders be the one to meet the Tsundere of the Future Children…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "I think the intended idea was to show how Cait has changed...Because if she was like herself before she met Travis...things probably would have been worse. At least that's what I got reading the notes left by M3 on this chapter."***

 **Ice Bot: "Yeah, more than likely…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "Anything else you got to talk about, Ice Bot?"***

 **Ice Bot: *shrugs* "Not really…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "I actually got something I wanted to comment on since the last chapter. Is it me or does it seem like there will be more interactions with the other Wastelanders and Aria?"**

 **Ice Bot: "...I...don't know…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "At least they seem to be interacting more in the story based on my perspective. It's like the start of a pattern..."***

 ***Magma Bot stops for a few seconds, thinking about something when he writes down, "Speaking of patterns, I got this thought nagging my mind about...portals. Something to do with portals… ...and people… ...Like a portal is going to open and someone would show up out of it."***

 **Ice Bot: "...Actually, my Dimensional Field Scanner is going off… … ...QUICK! DISGUISE MODE!"**

 **Magma Bot: *Quickly writes, "IT'S CAMO MODE!" before storing away the pencil and note book.***

 ***The bots work together and they end up disguising as Ice again***

* * *

 ***Soon, a portal opened, and out of it came Severa… … ...and some kind of large belt with a strange, bulky buckle…***

 **Severa: "Gah! What the-what happened?"**

 **The Belt: "That is what I wish to know, as well…"**

 **Severa: *stares at the belt* "... … ...Did you just talk?"**

 **The Belt: "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. My name is Krim Steinbelt...but I've gotten used to being called 'Mr. Belt'..."**

 **Severa: "Ok...Mr. Belt...you know where we are?"**

 **Fake IceBite: "Well, in mine and my partner's studio, of course."**

 **Severa: *quickly faces Fake IceBite* "And who are you?!"**

 **Fake IceBite: "Name's IceBite...So...you wouldn't happen to be with the theatrical brown-haired young man, wouldn't you?"**

 **Severa: "...Well...I KNOW a theatrical brown-haired young man...whether it's the same one-"**

 **Fake IceBite: "His name happen to be 'Owain'?"**

 **Severa: "-It's him...so...where is he?"**

 **Fake IceBite: "Down that hallway, in the residential area...my word of advice: avoid the two rooms across from each other at the VERY center of the hallway, if you value your life…"**

 **Severa: "... … ...Alright… … …" *leaves***

* * *

 ***Once Severa was gone, the two bots deactivated camo mode and started talking again...or at least Ice Bot was talking. Magma Bot had to break out the pencil and notebook.***

 **Magma Bot: *The look he had while he was writing showed how irate he was. What got written was, "You got the feeling that was another potential Kamen Rider inside the studio?"***

 **Ice Bot: *glares at Magma Bot* "She's got a talking Belt now, what do you think?"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes with the same look, "I'm asking you because I think my sensors got messed up and I'm picking up things that are not actually there."***

 **Ice Bot: "...Like…?"**

 **Magma Bot: *Writes, "A girl with a talking belt… … ...And now I can't go back and say I didn't see that, because I did. So...I'm in denial."***

 ***Magma Bot's face changes to a look of acceptance as he writes, "I appreciate you getting me to not question what I saw… ...Now if you excuse me…"***

 ***Then just like that, his face changes into a look of rage as he tears apart the notebook and snaps the pencil. What follows in Magma Bot running around the room, slamming his face on the walls and floor. If Magma Bot could scream, he would have as his metal hand hit the floor.***

 ***At some point, he just stops and just lays down on his back, staring at the ceiling…and continues to stare at the ceiling.***

 **Ice Bot: "Well… … ...that's new…" *says as he reaches over and turns off the camera…***

* * *

 ***Meanwhile***

 **IceBite: *pauses from playing his game* "... … ...I sense a great Disturbance in the Force…Like someone's tearing apart our Studio..."**

 **M3: *As he watches some movie, "Eh...I think my paranoia transferred over to you somehow...Which means you need to relax more. Also, stop talking. I'm trying to watch something."***

 **IceBite: *thinks for a moment* "You're probably right…" *unpauses game and proceeds to crit-execute a Great Brass Scorpion***

 **End Author's Notes**


	15. Chapter 15: AW Vs YS

**Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on***

 ***The scene in front of the camera shows Magma Bot and Ice Bot. Magma Bot is still lying on the ground facing the ceiling as Ice Bot focuses on the camera.***

 **Ice Bot: "...Hmmm...maybe I should just start the next chapter…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Occasionally twitches as he looks at a different part of the ceiling.***

 **Ice Bot: "...Definitely seems like he's not getting up for a time…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Mumbles out, "Life is like a box of wires...They all connect...to something greater."***

 **Ice Bot: "... … ...Yeah, he's out of it…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Still ignorant of whatever is going on, says, "Look to the stone in the sky...It has all of the answers.***

 **Ice Bot: "...You know what? Screw it, starting the chapter…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Zoning out as he says, "Dude Bot...You seen my Hover Bike? I think I left in the underground parking lot...In Short Coast."***

 **Ice Bot: "..." *sighs* *says quietly* "... … ...Hmmm...maybe while the chapter's playing, I should try communicating with that AI Ophelia, or something…Probably more intelligent conversation than I'll get right now from present company..."**

 **Magma Bot: *Some sense of internal confusion as he says, "I forgot about the wedding...We need to go there before 'Voxl' ties the knot...I need to tell him to call it off...And buy me a cake...Made of gold."***

 ***Ice Bot starts the chapter after getting the terminal started.***

 ***Chapter 15 Loading…***

 ***loading...loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 15 Starts***

* * *

 **Chapter 15: American Wastelanders Vs Yliseian Shepherds**

 **The next day…**

The sun rose up into the sky, bringing light to the camp once again. As it travelled across the camp, some individuals awoke to start the day off early, while the rest slept for a bit longer.

One such person was Travis, who got up early to double check he had everything ready for today. What he had planned involved several pieces of sports equipment and his bat, which the junk piles in his room had the equipment somewhere inside them. The bat, on the other hand, need to modified for the event.

After spending several minutes tinkering, the Sole Survivor finished modifying the bat into its new state. He took a moment to give a few test swings to get used to the modification. With that done, the piles of junk began being searched.

Elsewhere in the camp, Kyle was getting up out of his bed. His vision was a bit off due to waking up and moving around before the rest of his body was ready. Despite that, the Courier made his way across his tent to get outside without bumping into anything.

The sunlight was bright enough to let Kyle's eyes adjust as he walked around the camp. The location he was heading to was the mess hall tent to deal with the morning hunger.

As the Courier entered the tent, the emptiness of the tent made it feel like he was the only one in camp. Now, that wasn't true, but the thought did occur in his mind. Once he was inside the kitchen portion of the tent, that thought was immediately replaced with getting the place filled up with people.

This naturally led to the kitchen being put to work for cooking up the morning meals. Kyle started with heating up several omelets using the ingredients that were available at the moment. As that went on, the scent of warm food spread around the camp.

This scent found its way into the tent of the Lone Wanderer. Much like a old Pre-War tv show, the smell woke up the man and made him spring up out of his bed. Leon decided to follow his nose instead of his eyes...and he payed for that mistake as he tripped over a small pile of junk.

Taking the pain and getting back up, Leon continued moving, this time keeping an eye on his surroundings. As he left the tent, the rest of the camp started getting more lively as everyone else made their way towards the mess hall.

The morning meals were almost ready to go, but they just needed a bit more time. Kyle stopped what he was doing as he heard the crowd of hungry people outside talking. Most of what they were saying was about either how tired they were or them wondering who was cooking. Because no one bothered to see who it was, Kyle felt like surprising everyone.

A few moments passed and the meals were been sent out...except the way they were been sent out was odd. No one was able to see the person sending out the food and it stopped as so many got out at a time. Once everyone got their share of the food and sat down on their prefered spots, they started eating.

Suffice to say, the responses from the quality of the food were a bit...enthusiastic. The omelets were cooked very well along with the other portions of food were just as good...Which combined with the above, resulted in some people wanting seconds.

The Courier finished setting up his own plate as he left the kitchen. The moment he was on the other side, everyone was looking at him. Nothing ended up being said as he awkwardly shuffled over to the Wastelanders' table. This quietness lasted for a few more seconds before it went away as people started talking again.

Eventually, a few Shepherds...actually, a lot of Shepherds stopped to tell Kyle that he did a great job for cooking. Even Aria made sure to comment as well before she left for her own tent. Once that was done, Kyle finished his meal and went back to the kitchen to clean and set it up for later.

* * *

 **An hour or two later…**

With the kitchen taken care of, Kyle was planning on leaving the mess hall and getting to work on repairing some of his weapons. Until he got stopped as he saw his fellow Wastelanders waiting outside the tent. It looked like they were waiting for him, but as far as Kyle knew, they were going to ask him to cook up more food.

Kyle spoke up saying, "...I'm about done spending time in the kitchen...So, if you guys want more, you gotta wait till later."

"That's not what we are here for...We are here to ask if you are willing to join the team." Travis said.

"What kind of team are we talking about?" Kyle asked.

"The one where he doesn't tell you what it right away because it's a surprise." Cait commented before Travis could answer.

Travis sighed before retorting with, "Not true, Cait. I said that because I was waiting for everyone in our group to be here when I announced it."

"And the thing I've been being quiet about is something I been wanting to do a long time...How familiar is everyone with Pre-War sports?" Travis asked.

"I know a few...But the two that immediately come to mind is soccer and football." Leon said.

"There was a time I did found a few books on Pre-War sports...But they were missing a lot of important pages...And they were focused on football, soccer, and baseball." Veronica noted.

Cait thought out her response quickly, which resulted in, "Do you consider pit fighting as one? I can't think of anything else at the moment…"

Kyle just answered, "The only one I know is baseball...And even then, I don't know everything about it by heart."

Travis heard their answers and followed up with, "Well...The sport I had in mind was baseball. And I actually know how the game is supposed to be played, so we got that covered."

"But what about equipment? And where are we going to find room to set it up? Did you get that covered as well, Trav?" Cait mentioned as she started remembering what Travis told her about baseball.

Travis answered back with, "I got plenty of baseballs and gloves for everyone and we only really need 4 bases. I also cleaned up my bat, which we can pass off to the next batter since it's the only one I have on me. And I found a good place near the camp we can set everything up in."

Kyle had one last question on his mind, which was, "So...When should we meet up for this game? Or are we going to start it now?"

"I say right now is a good time if you guys want to help me move the equipment over." Travis said.

* * *

 **Sometime later, in an open field of grass and dirt, south of the camp...**

The Wastelanders were done making the improvised baseball field as the home plate base was dropped onto the ground. The area had dirt paths cleaned of grass to connect the bases while there was a dirt hill packed up in the center of the field to make the pitcher's position.

On both sides of the field, there were some buckets and aluminum containers that were used to mark the boundaries for determining if the ball is foul or fair. There was even some place where they determined the ball would be considered "out of the park" to make it count as a home run.

A quick mock game started with Travis as the batter and Leon as the pitcher. Veronica was the catcher, while Kyle and Cait were the outfielders. Leon waited for the right moment...and the ball was thrown straight down the middle. The ball was moving fast, but Travis was faster as he swung the bat hard. It connected and sent the ball flying into the home run range.

After taking his time running the bases, Leon and Travis swapped places and they started again. Travis threw a fastball and Leon swung and missed as the ball got caught by Veronica. The ball was thrown back, followed by Travis making it curve to the right as it passed by Leon's swing.

With two strikes already, Leon focused on making sure he land the hit. The pitch was another fastball that went down the middle, which is what Leon wanted to happen. He swung the bat hard at the right moment...and then something odd happened. As soon as the bat touched the ball, Leon heard a distinctive sound that sounded like a crowd cheering...despite there was no crowd nearby.

The baseball went high up into the air and went on and on and on… … ...Suffice to say, the ball was out of sight at this point and was probably not going to be seen ever again. The other Wastelanders were kinda shocked by what they witnessed, but the game continued as if that didn't happen.

Cait was the next person to be the batter and Kyle was going to be the pitcher. When Leon handed the bat over to Cait, she immediately dropped onto the ground and pulled her Supersledge off one of her holsters.

Cait quickly spoke up saying, "Sorry Trav, If I have to play this game, I'll be doing things my way to make it a bit more exciting." as she took up her position on the batter spot.

Travis, at this point, sighed to himself as his face had that look of disapproval that was best described as, "This is NOT how you play baseball at all." And against his better judgment, he allowed it.

One pitch went by, resulting in a strike for Cait. The Irish redhead was still getting used to trying to hit a ball with a rocket powered sledgehammer, instead of say, a bat. Another pitch flew by Cait as she swung too early, meaning it was up at two strikes.

Kyle decided to change it up by throwing a curveball that went a bit to the left, just as Cait decided to swing more to the left. The hammerhead hit the ball dead in the center and then the engine fired up, forcing the hammer to speed up. The ball ended up flying far forward and a smig to the left, which on a compass would be pointing a bit northwest.

However, the ball went past the homerun range and started soaring over the camp. The Wastelanders kept track of the ball as best they could while it descended down fast. It ended up being out of sight as it reached the top of the tents.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Aria was studying one of the 'Skill Magazines' she was given to research, namely one called 'Lad's Life' with two others, Boxing Times and Tales of Chivalry, sitting nearby. Generally, she found survival techniques, some she knew, others she didn't. Overall, it was interesting to her…

...Which was why she was so engrossed in reading, that she jumped when she heard a RIP-CRASH...when she looked up...she found one of her bookshelves knocked over...a hole in it...and in the hole, a white ball with red lines…

Somehow, she knew who was responsible...and she was _pissed!_

* * *

 **Back at the field…**

The Wastelanders initially stopped their game, until Cait got impatient and demanded that she get another chance to bat again. When they told her that the ball could have damaged something, she quickly argued that the chances the ball hit a tent was small. The reasoning she provided was that the amount of open ground to tent space was in more favor for the ground, meaning in short, it would have bounced and continued going away from the camp.

She had a point, but then again, this was Cait telling them that. They shrugged and agreed for the time being as Cait got to be the batter again. Leon and Travis took up the catcher and pitcher roles respectfully.

A few pitches followed as Cait ended up getting two balls and a strike. The next pitch Travis threw was hit by Cait, except this one was low to the ground. It slid and bounced across the ground, going past Veronica as she dove to catch it.

The ball continued into the homerun zone, which Cait promptly took as a sign that it was going to count as a homerun...Except it wasn't. Cait took her time to cross the bases, but just as she was going to reach the second base, Veronica grabbed the ball and tossed it towards Kyle. The Courier was already at second base and caught the ball before Cait stepped on the base.

"And you are out Cait. Time to let Veronica get a chance to bat." Kyle said as the ball was tossed to Travis.

"What? You mean that wasn't a home run?" Cait complained as she stared at Travis.

"Cait, a home run only counts if the ball is in the air when it goes past or LANDS on the home run zone. If it lands on the ground and then goes into the zone, It doesn't COUNT as a home run." Travis explained to Cait, albeit a bit angry.

"But...I scored a home run from that last ball that went into the camp. I WAS THE ONE WHO LAUNCHED THAT BALL, AND I DESERVE TO WALK THE BASES!" Cait responded back, yelling the last part.

"SO YOU WERE THE ONE THAT PUT A HOLE IN MY BOOKSHELF!"

Cait stopped as she heard the voice reach her ears. She and the other Wastelanders turned...to see Aria, a look of absolute fury on her face...and the missing baseball sitting in the middle of an open tome…

Cait tried talking, trying to explain what was going on...But Aria didn't listen as she began charging power into the tome...and pointed it at Cait, the baseball still sitting there, meaning once the spell fired, the baseball was brought along for the ride.

Thankfully for Cait, her reflexes were still on point as she just barely dodged out of the way of the charged ball. However, one fellow didn't have much good luck...or reflexes.

Leon saw the charged spell ball heading straight for him. He quickly brought up his hand with a baseball glove on it to try catching it. The ball hit the glove, but did little to stop the additional force. This pushed Leon hard enough that he landed on his behind and knock the wind out of him, while the glove's exterior where the ball hit got singed pretty badly.

Kyle quickly ran over to Aria before she could launch another spell at Cait and slammed the tone out of her hands. This quick moment of pain stopped her for a moment, giving Kyle a chance to get her to realise what she just did.

"Aria, stop being so angry and look around at what happened. You ALMOST hit Cait with a spell and instead hit Leon instead. For all we know at this point, he could be seriously injured because of what you did." Kyle stated, hoping Aria would calm down.

Fortunately, it was enough. It took a moment, but then she realized what she did, and could have done, and began crying. Kyle tried to say something to get her to stop crying, but was interrupted by a loud groan coming from Leon.

The Lone Wanderer sat up, taking a few breaths before saying, "I'm okay...The worst it did to me...was making me lose my breath. Don't worry about me, Aria."

"Phew...I thought he was hurt...but the man is still up, apparently still in good shape." Kyle said to Aria. She continued to cry, meaning Kyle had to get a bit louder to get her attention.

"Aria, I SAID Leon is ALRIGHT. He's still breathing and he just got back up on his own two feet by HIMSELF. You don't need to worry ANYMORE." Kyle carefully told Aria.

Fortunately, that time, he managed to get through to her, and she began trying to calm down.

Leon moved over towards Kyle and Aria, making sure to look at Aria as he jokingly stated, "You know...If that the power of that spell was toned way down, I could see a fulfilling career as a professional pitcher opening up for you, Aria. That ball sure did take my 'breath' away."

That managed to get a small giggle through Aria's sniffling.

"So...I take it a baseball ended up in your tent and it damaged something important to you, like a bookshelf?" Kyle asked, wanting to get Aria's side of the story first.

Aria nodded. "Yeah...I saw that the 'baseball', as you called it, had torn through my tent and put a hole in my bookshelf, after knocking it over…"

Travis quickly mentioned something before Kyle which was, "If you need someone to fix up that bookshelf, I'll volunteer."

Kyle followed with, "And to fill you in, Cait did send that baseball towards your tent, but...It wasn't on purpose. It just happened to land in yours, instead of someone else's tent...somehow."

Speaking of Cait, she decided to join in talking as she mumbled out an apology to Aria, this time not directly looking at the Tactician. Things started getting back to normal once Aria was done sniffling following the apology.

* * *

 **A few minutes and one explanation about baseball later…**

Travis finished elaborating on baseball, which ended like this, "... ...And that's everything there is to know about baseball...and why we start playing this game away from the camp."

"Because something that happened to me could happen to one of the others…" Aria replied, "Naga help them if someone sent a ball into Chrom's tent while he and Frederick were there…"

"Which we will address by moving everything over by like 90 degrees, so that no more homers end up in the camp." Travis retorted with before getting his fellow wastelanders to rotate their field.

Then a thought appeared in Travis' mind and it slowly changed into a idea that he had to bring up.

"If you don't mind me asking, I got a request for you and the Shepherds, Aria. It's a small request, but I'm sure everyone will find this to be beneficial." Travis said.

"Hmmm? What is it?" Aria asked.

"I want to play a game of baseball against the Shepherds, with my fellow Wastelanders being on my team. You on the other hand, get to have whoever you want be on your team. So, you up for it?" Travis asked.

Aria thought for a moment, before commenting, "The rest of the Shepherds...don't know anything about the game...wouldn't that give you an unfair advantage?"

"The only real advantage my team will have is me. Cait is terrible at batting, Leon's main strength is catching and nothing else, and I have no idea how good Kyle and Veronica are…... Besides you seem to catch onto how the game works, so you can help the Shepherds catch up." Travis more or less honestly admitted as he looked around the field.

"...I see...still, you have more knowledge of the game than I do...so…" Aria pointed out.

"Then how about this, I'll assist by giving the people you pick a training session to help whittle down the skill differences between our teams." Travis retorted back.

Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "Very well, that sounds reasonable…"

And that is when Travis took it as a sign of confirmation. He informed Aria that she would have an hour to form a team and by the end of that hour, Travis would start the training. Following that, the game would be started to see who would win.

Travis and Aria stopped talking and began their work for their team. Travis spent his time evaluating his teammates' skills and determined their position and roles. Aria was heading back to camp to set up her team and get them trained by Travis.

* * *

 **One hour later…**

Once the prep work was done, the Shepherds' team was out in the field practicing for the game. The players picked were Maribelle, Gaius, Nowi, Severa, and Cordelia.

Maribelle, Aria chose, due to believing that her constant...whacking people with her parasoul...could also allow her to hit a baseball with a bat...maybe...As for Gaius, Aria felt had a better chance of getting from base to base, if he hits the ball. Nowi...heard of the new game and kept pestering Aria until she put her on the team. Severa was also chosen, partly due to her well-rounded skill set, but mostly due to her own insistence on playing...and dragged along was Cordelia. Aria had a feeling Severa did this to try to find something she was better than her mom at: one thing Aria observed about the girl was her inferiority complex, that she felt she was worse than her mother at everything...Aria hoped Severa found her niche, her talent, soon...otherwise this could cause problems in the future…

Meanwhile, a bit away from the field was the other wastelanders. Since Travis was coaching and drilling the other team, Cait ended up geting her fellow teammates to listen to what she suggested. In short, they agreed to make the game a bit more 'interesting' by replacing the bat they were given to use with something else.

Bizarrely, this led to Kyle planning to use his shotgun as his bat (with the gun being empty to avoid any accidents), while Leon planned to use his pistol (and that was also emptied).

Then came Veronica's 'idea'... ...She was going to punch the ball with her Power Fist gauntlet. And Cait sticked to using her Super sledge. They didn't actually get their 'bats' out, since they had to wait for the game to start...and surprise Travis at the right time.

Enough time passed for the training to be over, and once the field was cleared and set up again, it was game time. Due to the game being 5 vs 5, the game environment had to be modified for this setup. For one, the pitcher had to be someone not on both teams, which resulted in Aria taking the role.

This allowed for one extra person to be in the outfield, which was needed because it was organized to be 2 players inbetween first to second and second to third. This left 2 others to be positioned further away from the bases, while there was a catcher at home base.

* * *

 **1st Inning**

The Wastelanders went first to bat while the Shepherds spread across the field. Travis stepped up and waited for Aria to start pitching. The baseball was placed in the middle of her tome and she charged it up before casting the spell. The ball got sent flying straight down the middle, just not as fast and powerful from before.

Travis swung away at the right time and launched the ball into the air to the right. It went past first base, but ended up getting catched by Gaius, taking care of the right side of the outfield..

With one out, Kyle was next up to bat. Two pitches went by until Kyle managed to land a solid hit that resulted in him reaching second base. Up next, Veronica hit the ball and it landed near Maribelle, who was on the left part of the outfield. Kyle was able to make it to home base, scoring one point for the Wastelanders.

Veronica was on first base and Leon struck out after getting two foul balls. At this point, Cait was going to be up. Much like the mock game, she tossed Travis' bat aside and equipped her Super sledge as her bat.

Travis was a bit disappointed seeing this happen again, but after quickly telling Aria that he was willing to allow this, the game went on. The end result was that the ball hit the side of the hammer and bounced off towards Cordelia. She caught it, making Cait automatically out, and she threw the ball towards Severa at second base before Veronica could get back. And that was three outs.

The teams switched around, with the Shepherds on a batting line and Wastelanders on the field.

Gaius was first, and even though Aria was rooting for her team, she still had to make to strike him and everyone else strike out. After one pitch and a miss, Gaius landed a solid hit that should only gotten him to first base, but he managed to barely make it to second base.

Nowi stepped up to bat and got out after the ball went straight up and got caught by Travis. Then Severa was next. She also hit the ball with her first swing, but this allowed her to get to first and Gaius to third.

The score changed to 1 to 2 after Cordelia launched the ball towards Leon, who tripped before he could catch the ball. This got Gaius and Severa to home base, with Cordelia at first. Maribelle stepped up to bat, but got out after the ball was launched towards Cait, who dove across the ground to catch it.

Gaius was up again, and he got three strikes and caused the first inning to end.

* * *

 **4th Inning**

Almost reaching the halfway point, the score was at 3 to 2, with the Wastlanders in the lead by one.

This inning had another Wastelander pull out their substitution bat. This time, it was Leon. His pistol was held by the front and the bottom part of the grip was meant to hit the ball. This was reluctantly allowed by Travis, but he told the other Wastelanders that this better be the last time.

The wastelanders scored two points somehow after Leon managed to land a hit after getting two strikes with his gun. Then the Shepherds had their chance to catch up, but didn't score any points.

* * *

 **7th Inning**

Score was at 5 to 4 as the game reached this point in the game. Much to Travis' dismay, his warning was ignored as Veronica replaced the bat with her Power Fist and launched out a home run that made it into the zone. Another warning was given, this one showing a small trace of the anger Travis had building up inside him from seeing how his team was running the game.

It transitioned to the other half of the inning, which saw Severa score a point for her team. And right near the end, the bases were loaded, with two outs and Cordelia having the chance to get more points...Which didn't happen as Kyle caught the ball after it went flying.

* * *

 **9th Inning**

Last inning in the game, with the Wastelanders at 10 and the Shepherds were at 7.

Travis expected Cait to mess around with this game, which is why he allowed her to continue playing with the Super sledge. He didn't expect Leon and Veronica to do the same, but he was sure it was going to stop. As Kyle stepped up to bat, Travis was glad that he stuck to playing the game as it was. It was like Kyle was the one good teammate that knew to treat the game seriously.

Those hopes were immediately crushed when the shotgun showed up and was having its stock be used to hit the ball. Inside his mind, Travis was so disappointed with his team and his anger was reaching the boiling point. Thankfully for his teammates, he was going to chew them out after the game was over.

As Travis kept his anger hidden, Cait was on second and before Aria was going to cast a curved pitch, she bolted to third base, trying to 'steal' it. Unfortunately, she tried to steal the actual base as after stepping on it and ran towards the home base. This resulted in a delay, made by making Cait return the base and head back to second with a better understanding of what 'stealing' a base in baseball was by Travis.

The top of the inning was over, the scores still the same as the Shepherds had their last chance to bat and win the game.

Maribelle went first and ended up getting two strikes after missing with the swings from the bat. Travis was still hiding his anger, but was glad that the other team stuck to playing the game more like what it was supposed to be.

And then Maribelle started using her own parasoul after getting frustrated at missing so many times with the bat. The moment the Sole Survivor saw the parasoul, he quickly facepalmed himself and in his head thought that this game was a disgrace to the sport itself.

The parasoul did a better job landing a hit, which allowed Maribelle to arrive at first. Gaius and Nowi also did their part by getting themselves on a base, filling up all three. If the Shepherds wanted to win, the next batter had to either score a home run or just had to get 4 more people to home base.

Cordelia saw that she had the chance and focused on trying to swing that ball way out of the field. One casted fastball got hit, but ended up being foul. Another casted pitch followed, this time curving to the left, and the result was the same as the first time.

Two strikes and one out...and Cordelia was still determined to swing a home run. Aria changed it up by casting a slightly stronger pitch, which made the ball go faster. Cordelia closed her eyes as she swinged the bat.

The only sound she heard was the ball… ...hitting… ...the glove Travis was wearing. After opening her eyes, Travis told her she was struck out and she had to hand the bat over to the next person.

At this moment, Severa was possibly the last batter for the game. It was either going to end in defeat or victory depending on what happened next. Aria continued to make sure that she would strike out whoever stepped up to the plate and almost did so as two curved cast pitches resulted in two strikes.

Aria decided to go with one more fastball to end the game with as the baseball went speeding towards home. Severa expected the ball to at the right spot as she swung that bat very hard, hoping her timing was right.

The ball collided with the bat and it went flying high into the sky. It soared past the bases and the outfield and even the home run zone...Which as soone as it did, Severa scored a grand slam, making the final score be 10 to 11.

* * *

The Shepherds started celebrating their victory as their opponents made sure to congratulate them as well for how they played. Once that was over, the Shepherds thanked the Wastelanders for the game and noted that it was surprisingly fun.

The Shepherds left for the camp, leaving Aria behind. She was going to join them, but stuck around to know why everyone in the Wastelanders' team except Travis stopped using the bat at some points during the game.

The first person she ended up talking to was Kyle, who actually wanted to talk to her as soon as he saw the Tactician.

"I have to say Aria, you did a excellent job by being the game's pitcher. If we ever play another game again, I'm sure everyone will want you to pitch again." Kyle expressed in a cheery tone.

"Thanks…" Aria replied, before getting to why she stuck around. "By the way...why didn't you and the others use the bat like Travis said to?"

Kyle responded back with, "We mainly did it just have a bit more fun during the game. Of course I didn't come up with it...Cait did."

Aria replied, "Well...I don't think Travis liked it...in fact, he seemed more than a little frustrated with it...in fact, I think the only reason he didn't blow up on Maribelle was the fact she tried using the Bat, and only switched to her Parasoul out of frustration… … ...like usual..."

"Are you sure about Travis being frustrated? He doesn't look angry right now since the game ended already." Kyle commented.

Aria shrugged. "Maybe we should ask? I mean, he seemed to be holding in his anger earlier...holding it in rather well, but still…"

The two went over to Travis, who was placing the bases on top each other. He noticed them and started talking as he placed the last base on top, looking very calm.

"Great job on being a pitcher, Aria. And you also did very well, Kyle." Travis said to both of them.

He continued with, "Say, you two mind waiting till the rest of the team meets up here, I got something I want to say about how 'we' did."

Kyle just gave a quick "Sure.", unaware of the hidden anger.

Aria turned to Kyle. "...Yup: definitely angry…" she said quietly.

Travis called the other Wastelanders over and started talking yet again.

"Since everyone one is here, I just wanted to say that despite us losing the game, I was proud of the fact we were able to enjoy a game of baseball out here. So, for that I thank you all for being on my team." Travis commented as he looked at each Wastelander.

Kyle turned to Aria quietly saying, "Does that sound angry to you?"

"Again, I have to mention how much I appreciate all of you for doing this." Travis stopped for a moment before his tone gradually changed. "However...I do have one nitpick. Baseball is meant to be played with a bat. I even warned you guys to stop changing out the bat for something else… ...BUT NO ONE DECIDED TO LISTEN TO ME! I MEAN, WHAT KIND OF IDIOTS DON'T GET THE IDEA THAT I WANTED THIS TO BE A PROPER GAME! YOU ARE ALL A DISGRACE TO THE SPORT OF BASEBALL AND I'M NEVER GOING TO HOST ANOTHER GAME THANKS TO YOUR SHENANIGANS! NOW, GET OUT OF HERE SO I CAN CLEAN EVERYTHING UP, SINCE NONE OF YOU CARE ABOUT THE SPORT!"

The raw, emotional anger in Travis' voice stunned the other Wastelanders. It left them speechless, especially for Cait since she never heard Travis yell like that.

Aria had a look that strangely conveyed equal parts shocked and smug...before her expression turned to the latter and she asked Kyle, in an attempt at ironic echo, "Does that sound angry to you?"

Kyle rather meekly answered with, "Yes, that does sound angry to me."

Aria sighed, and then replied, "In all seriousness, what do you have to say about what you guys did now?"

Cait answered for everyone, save Travis, saying, "This feels like a case of Karma striking back at us for pulling this stuff off during the game. We did deserve it….after all."

Aria nodded. "It appears so… … ...now I gotta go...still have a bookshelf to repair…" She glared at Cait when she pointed that out, before departing.

The Courier looked at his scribe friend before telling her, "How about we head back to my tent and start fixing up our equipment? I think the stock on my shotgun ended up dislocating a bit."

Veronica quickly agreed and the two Mojave Wastelanders disembarked. This left Cait and Leon to be alone with Travis, who they ditched before the man could berate them again.

* * *

The almost empty field was fully cleaned of the junk and bases scattered...With the only thing left being the Sole Survivor. Travis stared at the bat in his arms and eventually turned the bat around till he could see the side that had the logo that said, "World Champions".

He eventually left the field, but there was something different about him. There was a faint smile on his face...And in his mind, he was thinking about planning another game, despite what he said earlier. After the anger subsided and reflecting over the whole game again, Travis noted that the game was more exciting than any of the games he used to go to back in the past.

Of course… ...That thought was going to be kept in Travis' mind for a while before he shared it.

End Chapter 15.

* * *

 ***Camera returns to Studio, with Magma Bot having been moved to another room, leaving Ice Bot alone, talking to Ophelia, whose avatar was on a terminal***

 **Ice Bot: "So, we cool?"**

 **Ophelia: *Over comm channel* "... … ...Alright...I guess we're good...so the Triple M-Bot's the one that an Evil Mastermind?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Yeah, he just drags me along since we're pretty much similar models of robot, only I cause us to turn into IceBite when on his shoulders, and he turns us into Magma when he's on mine…"**

 **Ophelia: "I see...interesting intel…"**

 **Ice Bot: "So… … ...if you guys happen to return before Magma Bot and I can hightail it out of here-"**

 **Ophelia: "Yes, Ice Bot, I'll personally vouch for you."**

 **Ice Bot: "Alright! Thanks, 'Lia!"**

 **Ophelia: *avatar tilts head and places finger on chin* "... … ...Lia?" *cuts transmission***

 **Ice Bot: "...Heh...she's not that bad…"**

* * *

 ***Magma Bot walks back into the room, seemingly back to normal.***

 **Magma Bot: "I just woke up in a different room… ...Did I malfunction and starting saying stuff?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Pretty much, yeah…"**

 **Magma Bot: "Hmmm…Oh...Is the Chapter over?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Yup...that was one...interesting...baseball game…"**

 **Magma Bot: "Baseball game? Why did they play that?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Travis suggested it...and morale reasons…"**

 **Magma Bot: *I guess that makes some amount of sense… ...Anything else happen like a battle between the group and some brigands?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Nope...not this time...although an incident occurred where Cait pissed Aria off by putting a baseball through one of Aria's bookshelves…"**

 **Magma Bot: "I assumed it was kind like the last straw and Aria tried attacking Cait?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Yeah, but when she realized she tried shooting a Thoron-powered Baseball at Cait and it was caught by Leon instead, she broke down in tears realizing she attacked one of her comrades…"**

 **Magma Bot: I just imagine it as a reminder of why you don't mess with the Tactician. And that Leon fellow, did he get hurt?**

 **Ice Bot: "I was being literal when I said he 'caught it'...as in 'caught it in his mitt'..."**

 **Magma Bot: "And… ...What happened next?"**

 **Ice Bot: "Well, once they got Aria calmed down, since she just winded Leon, they had a Shepherds vs Wastelanders Baseball game...Shepherds won, BTW…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Disappointed as he says, "Dang...If I was up earlier, I would have made a bet between you and me to see who won."***

 **Ice Bot: *shrugs***

* * *

 **Magma Bot: *Changing topics, "So, besides the chapter, what did you do while I was out?"***

 **Ice Bot: "Not much…"**

 **Magma Bot: *Trying to get more info, "You must have done something...I did awaken in another room and I didn't walk over there by myself."***

 **Ice Bot: "I did that in case someone else came, and it'd be easier to hide if you weren't just laying there in broad daylight…"**

 **Magma Bot: "Good thinking then...the plan could have been jeopardized if anyone else besides ourselves knew we were here.."**

 **Ice Bot: *sighed in relief internally* "Anyways… … ...what now?"**

 **Magma Bot: "We should start the next chapter. *Holds out one of his hands* "Mind passing me the drive for it? I'll put it in the terminal."**

 **Ice Bot: "Alright…" *grabs the drive and passes it over***

 **Magma Bot: *Heads over to the terminal...stopping as he sees something on the screen.* "What's this… ...Comm channel log updated… ...User contacted… …-"***

 **Ice Bot: *optic widens***

 **Magma Bot: "... ...Ophelia." *Turns around to Ice Bot with a furious glare* "YOU CONTACTED OPHELIA… ...WHEN WE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE FROM THE STUDIO TO KNOW!"**

 **Ice Bot: "I needed someone to talk to and she's one of the few AI that I knew besides you...and QUIET DOWN...do you want the new ones to-"**

 **?: "GAWDS, WHAT IS GOING ON-WHO ARE YOU TWO?!"**

 **Ice Bot: "-Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…"**

* * *

 ***Magma Bot and Ice Bot looks towards the voices, seeing Severa and Owain staring at them.***

 **Magma Bot: *Quickly looks at the camera saying, "Sorry for the sudden interruption, but we have to address a current issue.***

 ***Camera turns off as Magma Bot hits the button.***

 ***The audio was still on, which sounded like a small fight broke out and two bodies hit the floor. Magma Bot can be heard ordering Ice Bot to help him move the two humans into another room, but Ice Bot could be heard refusing that order. Magma Bot mumbled to himself and after a few seconds, the sound of a door not that far away getting slammed shut and locked entered the room.***

 ***Magma Bot could be heard mumbling again as another set of doors are closed. Then what sounded like furniture and metal equipment being pushed along the ground lasted for 30 seconds.***

 ***After that, the audio got shut off.***

* * *

 ***Meanwhile, in the residential area***

 **Momotaros: *Jumps up* "Something happened to Owain! Oh, when I find out who did it, I will-"**

 **Kintaros: "WE will take them down a peg or two…"**

 **Ryutaros: "YEAH! We'll teach whatever bakka that attacked Owain to NOT mess with our friend!"**

 **Urataros: "Then shall we get on with it?"**

 **Sieg: "We shall…"**

" _ **SWORD FORM!"**_

" _ **ROD FORM!"**_

" _ **AXE FORM!"**_

" _ **GUN FORM!"**_

" _ **WING FORM!"**_

 **End Author's Notes**


	16. Chapter 16: Punches and Flowers

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns back on, seeing a barricade in front of the doorway into the room. It can also see Magma Bot and Ice Bot bickering at each other.***

 **Magma Bot: *In a panic, "You have to have an idea of getting out of this mess...We only have so much time before that barricade gets knocked down!"***

 **Ice Bot: "I got nothing! You were the one who yelled out and gave us away!"**

 **Magma Bot: "I wouldn't have yelled IF YOU didn't contact Ophelia, you moron!"**

 **Ice Bot: "So, WHAT?! It's not like SHE was gonna give us away or anything!"**

 **Magma Bot: "And what MAKES you think that?! FOR all we know, she could have lied to you and told M3 and IceBite about us!"**

 **Ice Bot: *seems certain of the reason, but uncertain of whether to say it* "Well...uhmmm...well I-"**

 ***A loud noise entered the room, coming from down the hallway past the doorway. It sounded like a door getting smashed open...Which Magma Bot didn't like hearing.***

* * *

 **Magma Bot: *With a more panicked tone, "OH NOOOO! They got OUT and are probably heading right for us!" *Stares at Ice Bot* "We need to DO something NOW!"**

 **Ice Bot: "What are we SUPPOSED to do?!"**

 ***The doorway and barricade make a lot of noise as the doorway get obliterated and the barricade gets its parts sent flying across the room.***

 ***Coming through the doorway was 7 figures: 5 were currently in...Kamen Rider Armor. One resembled a red...peach?...with train track-like armor, and was wielding a sword; another had blue, turtleish armor, and wielded some kind of bladed staff; another was yellow and gladiator-like with some bear-like features, and wielded an axe; another was purple and oriental dragon-like wielding a gun; and the last was white, with gold trim and a blue visor, and had princely and swan-like features, and wielded a small axe and a boomerang-shaped blade. The other two figures were Owain and Severa, and BOTH were angry.***

 **Severa: "Let's take them down…"**

 **Mr Belt: "I agree.** _ **Start Your Engine!**_ **"**

 **Severa: *trapped some kind of bracer to her arm, and inserted what initially looked like a toy car, after rotating the back half so that it looked like a switch, into the bracer, and flipped said switch***

 **Mr Belt: "DRIVE! TYPE: SPEED!"**

 ***Jazz music began playing, as red, car-themed armor appeared over Severa***

 **Owain: "Now, as the Rider of Justice, HENSHIN!" *He waved the Rider Pass over his Den-O Belt***

 **Den-O Belt: "** _ **LINER FORM!**_ **"**

 ***An ethereal blue train track appeared, which caused a similarly-ghostly train to appear and pass over Owain, and when it left, he was wearing armor themed after said train.***

 **Owain: "I, KAMEN RIDER DEN-O, WILL FIGHT YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US!"**

 **Severa: *sighs and facepalms, trying hard to hide a smile* "Let's just get them already!"**

 **Owain: "RIGHT!"**

* * *

 ***Before they even moved to start attacking, Magma Bot screamed out, "STOP!" and placed his arms in that air, hoping they would and he would have a chance to do something.***

 ***They do actually stop, but their stare at him, ready to strike if he so much as moved a inch.***

 **Magma Bot: *In a odd nervous and somehow calm tone, "Please...If you intend to fight...You need to know the only one to attack...Is me."**

 **Magma Bot: *continues with, "My fellow robot right next to me is innocent...I made him tag along and forced him to listen to my orders. All I ask now is…that he can leave… ...And I'll take the punishment, if he deserves any, for him….Just….please take my request."***

 ***The two Future Children look at each other...before Kamen Rider Drive sighs, and the two nod***

 **Magma Bot: *Looks at the riders saying, "Thank you for accepting my request." *Turns to look at Ice Bot one last time as he says, "If I don't see you again, just know you were a very great friend."***

 **Ice Bot: *looks at Magma Bot for a moment* "...I won't forget this…" *Ice Bot has fled from Battle***

 ***Once Ice Bot was gone, Magma Bot continued to stand still, this time saying only, "You may attack me… ...now."***

 ***The Kamen Riders looked at each other...and charged.***

 ***The camera switched over just as Magma Bit was about to be hit, instead showing a loading screen.***

 ***Chapter 16 loading...loading…***

 ***Loading….loading…***

 ***Loading complete.***

 ***Chapter 16 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Punches and Flowers **

**A few days later…**

Veronica woke up, initially yawning as she tried to open her eyes. The light coming from outside was somewhat bright, which Veronica took as a sign it was still early in the morning.

Getting up from her bed, she was going to get back to working on building a few weapon repair kits and continue maintaining her weapons. And then... the sudden craving for a Fancy Lad Snack Cake replaced that plan.

Deciding on settling the craving, the former scribe moved her cover to her secret stash and tries to grab a box. She wasn't directly looking at her stash, but she ended up not grabbing anything except the back part of her bed.

Slightly panicking on the inside, Veronica tried to calm down by thinking that she must have pushed the boxes onto the floor when she was sleeping. She was tossing and turning the last few nights for some reason and that may have been the cause for the boxes not being there.

Veronica switched over to see the other side of the bed...and still didn't see the boxes of the small tasty cakes. She quickly searched the area around the bed and found nothing...and then searched her work area...and the whole tent.

The fact that her panickiness wasn't going down did little to help the return of the cravings. The Mojave Wastelander felt like screaming, but she wanted to avoid waking up anyone else in the irrational fear that her snack cakes would be gone forever. Instead, she needed help...and help she did seek out for after departing from the tent.

Veronica went towards the tent that Kyle always ended up visiting every day...meaning it was Aria's tent. The thought of heading inside and explaining her problem did arise, but was reconsidered given how early into the morning it was. Not to mention that Cait recently told her about the time she used a alarm clock to wake up Aria and how terrible that went.

Instead of following in Cait's steps, Veronica came up with a different approach that would work as well. Veronica headed back to her tent and wrote down a note explaining that she needed to talk to Aria about something important and to keep it on the quiet. Then the note was placed past the tent flap on the ground and Veronica went back to work till the morning meal was being served.

When Aria entered the mess hall tent, she sought Veronica out, and when she found her..."I found your note. What is it that you needed me for?"

Veronica looked around quickly in case anyone else was paying attention to their conversation before saying, "I'm not sure this is a good area to talk in...We need to head somewhere else...and trust me, it's very important."

"Alright," Aria replied, getting ready to follow. They went to Veronica's tent and after Veronica checked to be sure they weren't followed, their little meeting started.

"Okay...No one was tailing along. As for why I left the note, some items very important to me ended up missing...However, at this point, I think they were stolen." Veronica stated.

"Alright, what exactly is missing?" Aria asked.

"At least…6 boxes of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes. They were hidden into a secret spot only I knew of...and when I woke up and checked the spot, they were gone." Veronica noted in a rather somewhat serious tone.

Aria gave her a flat look. "... … ...What?"

Veronica continued to explain, trying to help her case with, "My important items are 6 boxes of snack cakes...The exact same cakes I love eating back in the Wasteland...just for how they taste so sweet."

Aria just looked at Veronica, internally debating whether to help or not.

"Look, I know it may seem pointless, but if there is truly one thing I love more than punching, it would be the snack cakes...So, please be willing to help me get them back." Veronica said.

Seeing how important this was to Veronica, Aria sighed. "Very well… … ...my first piece of advice would be to go to Gaius, the resident thief and sweettooth. If he didn't take them, it's possible he either knows who did or knows how to find them…"

Oddly, Veronica did a sort of 'squee'-ish cheer before gladly telling Aria, "You have no idea how much you got me to calm down by giving me a lead...If I didn't promise Kyle already for being there for me, I would have made the same promise to you, Aria."

"And what was that promise?" Aria asked, confused.

Veronica simply said, "If I ever find other people out there in the world, I was going to encourage them to name their non-ugly kids Kyle...or was it supposed to be Sevon? It was one of those names..." as she tried remembering exactly how it was going to work out.

"... … ...Oh-kay then… … …" Aria replied.

"I'll keep you up to date about if I get my snack cakes back...And I may give you a box to make up for troubling you with this." Veronica noted as she was getting ready to leave to talk to Gaius.

"Oh, and don't tell this to anyone else, especially Kyle." Veronica added as she actually left for real.

"...Ok…" Aria just said to herself before going back to her own business.

* * *

 **Two hours later...**

The Courier and Tactician could be seen reading skill magazines with plenty of material laid across the table. Kyle was reading a 'Milsurp Review' and Aria was reading "Tales of Chivalrie'.

At some point when Kyle was done reading through a few pages about revolver maintenance and techniques for firing, he started looking at Aria. She was as always focused on reading, but this time Kyle kept looking at her cloak, wondering what was with its design.

"Did I ever happen to ask what is with that cloak of yours, Aria?" Kyle asked as he placed his magazine down on the table.

"Hmmm? Oh, no, you haven't…" Aria replied, "The day Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick found me in that field, it was just...on me at the time...I've had it ever since. That was back when I was desperate to find out more about myself, and this cloak was like one last link to my past...Even now, this cloak still remains a part of who I am, however, my...look, shall I say; a part of who I was then AND who I am now...Therefore...I kept it..."

"So, it has a story to it beyond the one you already have for it...or something like that." Kyle commented, looking at his own clothes after he got done talking.

Aria nodded and began to think...before she began analyzing Kyle. "What about you? What's with your outfit?"

"This old thing? It's just a pair of pants, torso armor, and this thing that is part of the back is called a duster...keeps dirt and sand off the clothes." Kyle nonchalantly said.

"And...there's no story behind it?" Aria asked.

"No...there is a story to it. It's a long one, so you better be ready." Kyle said before he delved into said story. "Now, back in my world on the year 2281, I was out in a place called the Mojave. It was a desert that had mountains and a river inside it, which led to it having something important. It was so important that two armies fought over it in a war. Whoever won took over the Mojave, but at this point, that didn't happen yet. And here comes me...unaware I would get sweep up into this mess. I ended up working for one side because I liked them more and… the other side...That's a can of worms that I don't want to get into. But back on point, I worked with the side that called themselves 'NCR' or New Californian Republic. I did such a good job helping them out that they gave me access to an outpost of theirs that had this outfit in there. They let me take it and I been wearing it ever since. That's the story."

"So...you got it for aiding a faction in a war?" Aria asked, to clarify.

"Yes, that is basically what happened." Kyle answered.

"And...who did you fight against?" she asked.

"The faction I found against was called Caesar's Legion. The best way to describe them is… ...Actually, I think Veronica had a great way to summarize them. She basically said, "Silliest dressed band of moronic, slaving marauders you'll see east of California." There's more but the rest of what she had to say isn't very nice to say at the very least...So, that's who I fought." Kyle explained, not saying everything he heard and learned about them.

"Slavers? Nowi probably would help raze them to the ground, if there was a way to your world and they're still around...Considering the circumstances of her recruitment into the Shepherds, that is..." Aria commented.

"Except one other thing that both me and Veronica despise about them is how they… view...women. Putting on an extreme version of mildly as I can, they REALLY don't like women...And that is all I will say about that." Kyle stated in a rather uncomfortable tone near the end.

Aria thought for a moment, before replying, "I think I get it…"

"And actually I forgot to mention this as well, they are already been taken care of… ...I kinda storm their fort and took out their leader with two other friends of mine before they lost the war and it was packed with soldiers." Kyle said in a somewhat bragging tone.

"But enough about them… … … I was originally talking about this armor of mine, right?" Kyle more or less said to switch the topic.

Aria nodded. "Yes, you were…" she replied.

"Okay, so uh...To go a bit more about this armor, it's made for the elite of the NCR forces. This gets worn by people referred to as 'Veteran Rangers', who live up to the name. They have a helmet that does a great job at protecting you… And I'm sure I have on with me." Kyle said as he checked his Pipboy.

He found what he was looking for and pulled it out of the storage and handed it over to Aria to let her scan over it.

Aria began analyzing the helmet, as Kyle pointed out what various parts were: the most notable feature was the gas mask in the front, with a tube sticking out to the side. It had two red lenses where the eyes would be, and the top was fairly well armored.

* * *

"That particular helmet saved my life more times than I count over the years since I got it." Kyle noted as he gazed at the red lenses. The gaze lead into Kyle closing his eyes and blanking out for several seconds as he thinks he was reliving the moment… ...and tumbled off his chair once it ended.

Aria gasped. "Are you alright?" she asked, moving to help him up.

His eyes finally opened as he mumbled, "I just fell off because I was sitting at a angle and my feet were on the table...It's nothing to worry about." Accepting Aria's help, he got back up and started sitting more normally.

Except that it became clear he wasn't doing as well as he thought. The magazine he was reading did nothing to hide the change in his demeanor and posture that showed signs of discomfort.

Aria replied, "...Looks like it was more than just tumbling off the chair due to sitting at an angle: you were spaced out for a time beforehand…"

"I'm fine… There is nothing is… wrong... with me right now." Kyle stated without focusing on his tone and word choice.

Aria just gave him a flat look, showing she didn't believe him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm still just my usual self…taking the time to read and study on my skills." Kyle retorted, this time aware of how his lies are getting worse.

Aria just kept up the look.

Trying to switch to a different method, Kyle just started saying, "Are you just going to keep that up till I say what is bothering me...even though there is nothing of the sort?"

He sighed before mentioning, "Fine...I was remembering how I forgot about paying up for a bet you and me made for the baseball game a few days ago..."

Aria replied, "You're gonna have to do better than that, Kyle…" Her look softened. "Please...tell me what's wrong…"

"Okay...My Pipboy is not working. I can't turn it on...and I need to spend some time getting back to working order." The lie came out more forced than he wanted it to.

Aria's look softened a little more, looking more upset than before.

"I...I was remembering the day I was a glorified delivery boy...and how I almost died one day, but woke up eight days later, alive…" This one sounded more or less like the others Kyle tried to use…

"Is that really all you have?" Aria asked, skeptical (and a bit hurt).

"I'm not lying...I did almost die. I got ambushed by this man named Benny and the thugs he hired. I was down on the ground on my knees, my hands tied up as I lifted my head to see Benny's face. He told me something I didn't understand initially...before he shot me in the head with his own gun...twice. But...as you can see, I'm right here...Probably due to how lucky I am that I survived that." All said in a genuine somber tone as Kyle stared back at Aria, to reinforce the fact he was being completely honest.

"Oh...I'm sorry I didn't believe you at first…" Aria replied...before _what_ he said made an impact on her. "Wait! You almost DIED?!"

"Yeah...I lived because someone named Victor found me after Benny and his goons left for dead...in a grave. He dug me up and brought me to a doctor that removed the two bullets that were stuck in my head...and like I said, eight days passed and I woke up, breathing, alive." Kyle answered.

Aria looked at him wide-eyed...before adopting an angry expression. "If I ever meet this 'Benny', I'm gonna kill 'em…"

"Hearing you saying that...It brings me back to the same thoughts I had when I saw him once again, except this time, I was the one looking him down…with a gun in my hand." The Courier commented to Aria.

"But… ...As much as I hated him for trying to kill me, I...couldn't kill him... Instead I let him live and I TOLD him to leave the Mojave and to never come back or else. And Benny knew how serious I was about about keeping my word ...and then he disappeared from the Mojave for good...Albeit with getting some payback on him at the least." The Courier explained, oddly showing a tiny grin at that last part.

"...I see…" Aria replied, now going into thought, "What kind of payback?"

The Courier went for a bigger smile as he gladly said, "I told Benny he had to hand over the tacky suit he was wearing and the gun he named Maria before I could let him go. He did as I told...and the rest you know."

"I see…" Aria replied, before asking, "If the suit was tacky, why'd you want it?"

"Because as much as it was tacky, it felt wrong to let that suit be kept by Benny and he really liked it...So, that's why I wanted it." Kyle said.

Aria chuckled. "That's kinda petty, isn't it?"

Kyle just responded back with, "Maybe it is, but I'm still the one with the suit. I was doing Benny a favor anyway before some shot him for wearing it."

Aria then asked, "Are you being facetious, or would someone actually DO that?"

"No, not really. I was just saying that in the vain attempt you would laugh." Kyle honestly admitted.

Aria replied, "Had to ask: knowing your world as much as you told me, I wouldn't be surprised if someone would…"

"And I think I talked enough about my part of the world… ...So…uh... You want to swap magazines and go back to reading?" Kyle asked as he held up his magazine.

Aria nodded, passed her magazine over and Kyle handed his over as well.

* * *

 **The next day…**

A mountain could be seen being ascended by the Shepherds and Wastelanders...With some people being more out of shape for climbing than others. Either way, they continued onward to reach their designation of interest.

The land mass they were on was to the west, and way, way to the north. This particular land had a very well known gate that many people have travelled through at some point in time, but there was a problem with it, much like every other location the group has been to so far.

It was a band of bandits that took control of the gate and been using its surrounding area as a camp. And like raiders in the wasteland, they picked on the local towns and villages since their arrival.

That was one problem that the group planned to resolve, provided they got past the mountain. It had a steep path that led to the gate, but it was a long distance away at this point.

The Wastelanders climbed to the top and waited for everyone else to catch up. When Aria arrived, she was a bit out of breath and needed a moment to rest. That's when they heard a skirmish not too far away from their current location, leading to the break ending faster.

The scene the group was able to see from a distance that stopped them in their tracks. A young man could be seen defending a villager from a bandit that was probably trying to force them to hand over their valuables.

The young man seemed to say something before taking down the bandit. However, the villager soon got a bit worried about something, which was cut short due to the young man being able to call them down.

Then the villager left to go hide and be safe in case of retaliation from the bandits, leaving the young man to stare at the massive gate ahead of him. It seemed that he planned to storm the place by himself...a foolish decision to be made by one person armed only with a sword.

* * *

A decision was made for one of the Wastelanders to go provide backup with that young man and stop him from storming the structure without having the group there to clear out the bandits. Veronica volunteered to be the one and made her way towards the young man.

As she got within hearing distance, the former scribe spoke up saying, "Hey, you with the sword! You better not be thinking to take on that gate all by yourself!"

The young man turned around to see Veronica heading towards him. His response of, "There may be some worry for attacking theses bandits, but I know enough to be able to win against any foe. Don't worry armored maiden, I will handle them all by myself." threw Veronica's focus off, but it wasn't the overconfidence that caused that.

As Veronica made her way to be close enough to actually see what he looked like, she had a response ready to go.

"First off, I'm not an armored maiden. Second, if you so much as move an inch toward that structure without me, I'm going to drag you back out here and make you watch my friends do your job for you. Third, I'm your new partner, Veronica Santangelo." The Mojave Wastelander dryly elaborated.

"Well Veronica, I do appreciate the backup, but wouldn't you like to know who I am?" The young man asked.

Since the young man was waiting for her response, Veronica had some time to get a good look at her new partner. He had dark brown, almost black, hair and wore gear that made him look similar to either Gregor or a male Severa, with a large...shield?...on his left arm, and cloth armor everywhere else, except for the iron-plated lower legs. As noted before, he also wielded a sword, specifically a Katana, or 'Killing Edge' as they called them here.

Veronica finally answered with, "Yes, I would like to know your name if you care to share."

The dark brown haired young man responded back with, "The charming rogue you are speaking to is Inigo, Veronica. And you shall not worry about this perfect face getting harmed, for I will defend myself excellently against any foe in out path."

There was something Inigo was saying that was really bugging Veronica, so she made sure to speak her mind. "Inigo, I do appreciate the optimism...but you can you kill the whole "casanova" thing you keep trying to do? It's not needed in combat, unless you plan on wooing any female bandits to surrender...And I don't think any of the bandits are ladies...So yeah."

Inigo's smile went away as he spoke up saying, "Fine, I'll stop. But in return, we need to meet back here to allow this dashing man to meet the fair maiden I saved already not too long ago."

Veronica just a quick "Okay" as she made sure her displacer glove was equipped and signaled Inigo to have his weapon and himself on standby for anything that will happen in the immediate future.

* * *

The gate and the two massive sides that were not on land were filled with water. This left the only direct path to reach the other side filled with the walls of the structure. And it was swarming with bandits as well.

Aria formed a battle strategy that had the two water paths be guarded by the people with long range attacks and equipment in case any bandits were planning to lead an attack crossing the water. As for the gate and its walls, anyone who specialized in close quarters fighting were to be sent that way.

However, due to the restricting space of the structure, the people ordered to be there were told to retreat back to the more open ground outside if they got overnumbered.

The pairs were Kyle and Aria, Leon and Dogmeat, Cait and Travis. Veronica was with Inigo, but she was unable to relay his name back to Aria before the battle started.

* * *

On the southern side of the gate, Travis and Cait were waiting for any signs that bandits were going to cross the watery divider. Cait was looking down the scope of Travis' Lever-Action rifle, which he loaned to her to help him out with the lookout. Travis did the same with his scope on the Laser Musket and spotted a group of bandits heading towards them in the air.

Some were on the flying horses, while others were on very large birds. Either way, they had to be taken care of. Travis informed which half he would focus on, leaving Cait to handle the other half.

A bandit on a Pegasus saw a red beam heading straight towards her and panicked as it struck her and forced a descent into the waters below. The others tried to split apart to avoid getting shot down, but that failed as the same happened to them one by one.

On Cait's half of the air bandits, she could see the Griffon riders heading straight for them. She held her breath as she tried to pick off the foremost one. A shot rang out and hit the bandit in the torso, leading another one into the drink below.

Two other riders remained as Cait ended up missing her next shot. She aimed again and hit one bandit in the head, taking that one out of the fight. However, the remaining Griffon rider was closing the distance.

With two shots left before having to reload, Cait fired another shot, this one barely missing the bandit. Just as the bandit was going to attack, their flying companion was turned into red ash and they fell towards the ground.

Once they landed not too far away from the Commonwealth Wastelanders, Cait finished the job by landing a bullet in the side of the bandit's torso.

Cait turned to Travis, thanking him for stopping the attempted attack. Travis quickly signaled her to get back to scanning over their assigned area. Once they felt there was no more bandits on their way, at least from this side, Travis started looking at the water ahead of him.

"We should get moving, Travis… Oh...Please tell me you aren't going for a swim right now." Cait complained as she saw the look on her partner's eyes.

The Sole Survivor stored away his hat before he responded back with, "That's not what I'm doing Cait. I'm stopping to take in the sights for once."

"We are in the middle of a battle…. For what stupid-" The Irish pit fighter mumbled out, not paying attention to her friend, before being interrupted by a loud splash sound nearby.

Needless to say, the Commonwealth Wastelanders ended up splitting up and went on their own for the battle.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

The Capital Wastelanders...or the Capital Wastelander and his dog were up on the northern side of the gate. They just got done defending their position from more flying bandits that took the northern side.

With the area cleared, the two rand towards the gate's entrance on their side of land and went in. Leon had his silenced pistol ready while Dogmeat was ordered to stay quiet as they sneaked their way forward.

A few brigands could be seen as Leon glanced around the corner. Some were being lookouts while the rest were coming up with a plan. As Leon listened in, one of them mentioned a location near the other side of the gate as a place to retreat to if they were getting overwhelmed.

Remembering that info, Leon placed his pistol carrying hand around said corner and started firing wildly. The distinctive, yet almost quiet sound of a silenced gun blared out several times before the gun ran empty. After reloading, Leon peaked his head out again to see what he accomplished.

Three bandits were down and out, another one was wounded due to a bullet hitting their leg, and one was spooked out from getting attacked suddenly. While the panicking bandit tried to help their comrade, Leon fully turned around the corner and fired off more rounds, this time, aiming carefully.

Heading closer to the group of slain bandits, Leon started looking at them. The bandits weren't wearing armor and clothing that looked like the typical bandit attire he was expecting…

However, he chalked it up as a minor detail that didn't really matter (to himself) and continued sneaking through the gate with Dogmeat by his side.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Kyle was advancing inside the gate, his trusty Ranger Sequoia on his left and the ballistic fist on his right. He heard a few bandits heading toward his position, giving a small of time to prepare for them. His current position was in the very middle of the structure, surrounded by walls on either side of him, blocking and limiting his mobility.

Soon, three bandits were in front of him, one covered in heavy armor carrying a spear and shield, with the other two carrying tomes. The armored bandit held up its shield and waited for his allies to start casting spells towards Kyle.

Instead, three rounds went into the shield and pierced into the man behind it, forcing his body to collapse. The tome users lost their concentration due to seeing that, allowing Kyle to shoot their hands opposite their tomes with a bullet.

Then the Courier sprinted towards the two, punching the right one with a hook and blast from the gauntlet. The other one tried to slam his tome into Kyle's face after that, missing due to Kyle dodging out of the way.

One uppercut later, the bandit took a short trip into the air and landed on his side returning back to the hard floor. The hallway ahead had no more enemies coming over to fight, leaving Kyle to signal Aria to catch up with him.

While Aria was on her way, Kyle took a second to look at the bandits laying on the ground in front of him. Their clothes and armor had several distinctive designs on them, instead of the more rugged and worn out condition of other brigands and bandits they fought in the past.

"Aria, you should probably come see what I'm seeing right now...There's something off about these bandits." Kyle said, as he searched the nearest body.

"...I agree...they're far too well equipped to be simple brigands...they look almost like-" Aria's eyes widened. "The assassins from the last war…" She took another look at the brigands. "These aren't brigands…" Her expression took a darker turn. "These are Grimreal Thugs!"

"Okay...What exactly are the Grimreal?" Kyle asked.

"A religious group from Plegia...they worship the Fell Dragon Grima…" Aria replied, "Read more about the Grimreal after the battle, but needless to say, they're bad news."

Kyle finished searching the body, and commented, "As long as I'm around, these thugs are getting a nice one way trip to the floor just like this one."

The pair maneuvered their way over the unmoving thugs, and kept their weapons ready as they approached a door at the end of the path they were on. Kyle tested the door, trying to open it and continue moving...except it didn't budge.

Meaning it was locked and there was no hidden spot on the floor to hide a key. After looking at the door, Kyle spotted a keyhole on the door, meaning he could lockpick it if they couldn't find a key.

"I can pick the lock off this door...But I'm guessing one of the thugs behind has a key on them. You mind heading back and seeing if you can find it, Aria?" Kyle asked as he looked for a bobby pin.

"If not, I can always find Gaius or Anna…" Aria replied, shrugging, before heading to search the bodies.

The bobby pin search was halted as Kyle holstered the Ranger Sequoia and stored his ballistic fist away. Then the Courier started picking the lock after he found the bobby pin.

Keeping his ear close to the door, he could hear the lock parts moving around and eventually the lock disengaged. With that taken care of, Kyle pushed the door open and waited for Aria to get back.

Unfortunately, due a glaring mistake of not checking the other side of said door, a trio of thugs were able to ambush Kyle. As Kyle ended up getting dragged across to the other side of the door, Aria returned in time to see what happened without them spotting her.

The thugs threw Kyle against a wall, stunning him for a few moments and dropping his revolver to the floor. One of them told the others to get their weapons drawn and to strike at the same time. Two axes and a sword were raised and were going to hit Kyle…

"THORON!" The attack struck one of the brigands, which slammed them into one of their brethren. The other brigand turned…

 ***...CLICK!***

Aria's eyes widened, realizing the Ranger Sequoia wasn't loaded.

The brigand laughed before he tried swing his sword at Aria...and ended up missing. The brigand was struggling to breath as Kyle can be seen choking the brigand with one of his arms wrapped around his neck.

They got into a struggle where they ran into the nearby walls and Kyle eventually lost the grip on the brigand's throat. At that point the brigand broke free, leaving Kyle with only one other option.

Quickly digging into one of his pockets near his holster, he threw a few bullets toward Aria and

yelled, "Open the chamber and insert the bullets into those openings, and then close it before you shoot!" as he dodged the brigand's sword attacks.

Aria nodded, and followed the instructions. Once done, she aimed, waiting for the right moment to fire. Once she was sure she could hit the brigand and not Kyle…

 ***BANG!***

The brigand now sported a large hole on the side of their head, as they fell to the ground.

Kyle quickly moved towards Aria, offered a sincere, "Good Job." before asking for his gun back. Once Aria gave it back to him, he turned around, firing two shots into the brigand that was struck by the thoron beam and his comrade that was knocked out.

The adrenaline was wearing off as Kyle sat with his back to the wall as he catched his breath.

"You have no idea...how happy I am...with you having my...back, Aria. I can't believe...that just happened to me." Kyle mentioned in between breaths.

"I'm almost as disbelieving...I'm just glad I was there…" Aria replied.

The Mojave Wastelander eventually got up and told Aria, "Let's get back to work before more brigands head our way."

Aria nodded. "Right," she replied in agreement.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Veronica and Inigo initially had a problem when they were fighting off the brigands, but it was resolved rather quickly once the two got use to each other's combat style. Veronica prefered being more offensive than defensive, while Inigo was the opposite.

As they went on further into the gate, the exit leading into the outside could be seen ahead of them. The former scribe and self-proclaimed "charming rogue" descended part way down the stairs and stopped as they spotted what looks to the leader of this band of brigands.

The leader spotted them and charged ath them with his silver sword. He was about to make it to the first step...before he collapsed and fell onto his back. Just as the two were being stupefied at what they just saw, the leader screamed out in pain again, being unable to move.

Then a severely damp Travis soon walked into their view as he held his silenced pistol, pointing it at the leader. Being somewhat disappointed with what happened, Veronica voiced her complaint out loud.

"Thanks a lot Travis… ...I had a chance to take out a brigand leader with Inigo over here and you ruined it… ...And why do you look like spent the whole battle in the water?"

Travis dryly retorted with, "How else am I going to get my daily swimming exercises done If I don't take every opportunity available?" Then he changed his tone to say, "I...just got done swimming all the way to reach here because I was going to clear the enemy from this side and work my way backwards through the gate."

Veronica sighed after hearing that, and made her way down to the incapacitated leader and punched him so hard in the face with the displacer glove, that his head ended up getting lodged into the ground as his body slumped over.

"Travis, can you do me a favor and make sure there's no one else around to attack me and Inigo as we talk?" Veronica asked.

The Sole Survivor just gave a thumb up as his response as he patrolled around the area.

Veronica then called Inigo over and started asking one question she currently had in her mind.

"So remind me in case I didn't ask, but why were you out here in the middle of bandit territory?" Veronica asked, waiting for Inigo to respond.

"I heard these bandits were pestering the surrounding, defenseless villages and I had to do something about it, knowing that I can elegantly trounce them. That's when the fair beautiful maiden who was charmed by my roguish looks followed me to stop me from my endeavor. Then a bandit spotted the two of us and I out skilled the oaf triumphally, leading into meeting you." Inigo explained in more words than necessary.

"You know, if I ignored every part in your answer I could nitpick, I would say you remind me of my friend that is here with me...Save for the vast difference in natural charismatic charm." Veronica stated honestly.

"I...Is that meant to be a compliment or insult that you told me?" Inigo asked, confused about what Veronica meant.

Veronica somewhat laughed for a moment before saying, 'It's whatever you make of it. And by the way, we should probably be heading back to the front of the gate to meet up with the Shepherds. Otherwise known as the people I'm helping out at the moment besides you."

Inigo remained silent, clearly thinking about something to himself before he got ready to head back.

* * *

The Shepherds and Wastelanders all met up in front of the gate, either celebrating at another victory or talking among themselves about what happened to them in the battle.

At some point, Veronica and Inigo spotted Olivia by herself and Inigo told Veronica to wait for a moment as he took care of something important. Veronica watched and somewhat listened in as they talked and eventually had their faces redden in embarrassment about something between them.

Once that was over, Inigo returned telling Veronica, "I sincerely thank you for waiting. But now I shall depart to go meet up with a buttercup that shall be most sweet to be in my own company."

He tried to leave, but felt like he wasn't moving an inch. Then he noticed the arm on his shoulder that was holding him back...and then Veronica herself.

"Nice try, but you got to stick round and answer one more question before I let you go." Veronica said.

"What do you care to know about that you needed me for? Is it about the buttercup I plan to reunite with?" Inigo asked back in response.

"I was going to ask 'what is your relationship between you and Olivia', but I think I can tell that you are her kid. And yes, I did overhear the part about you being a dancer just like her." Veronica noted from her observations.

"Uh...You mind...keeping that part ...about me dancing to yourself...and no one else? I...I don't...want people to know...because then they want to see me...actually attempt it." The nervousness overtook Inigo as he tried to get Veronica to promise.

Veronica just nodded in agreement and continued to keep Inigo from leaving.

Inigo tried to leave again, but to no avail. He turned around and said, "Do you mind letting go of me? It's teatime with the buttercup and I must make haste before the time is up."

'Remember how I said you needed to answer my question before I let you go? You didn't do that...So; I have to bring you along with me since the Shepherds are leaving right about now." Veronica said, after she picked up Inigo and started hailing him over her shoulder.

Inigo tried to work his way out and ended up exhausting himself. He spoke up again, trying to get Veronica to stop with, "But that's not fair, you got the answer you were looking for…"

Veronica responded with, "I did, but much like war itself being hell, life itself is unfair sometimes. You have to learn to deal with it...So, who better to help you through it than Olivia and the Shepherds...and you can help them back as well."

It took a few seconds, but Inigo did say that he'll join...As soon as Veronica stopped carrying him over her shoulder.

End Chapter 16.

* * *

 ***Camera turns back on***

 ***The only thing that can be seen is Magma Bot, whose robotic limbs seem to be broken. However, he can be seen still moving...very slowly.***

* * *

 ***Meanwhile, literally outside the studio…***

 ***The bus M3 was driving ends up near the front door of the studio. The door opens and out steps M3 and IceBite.***

 **M3: *To the crowd inside the bus, "Don't leave the bus till we get done unlocking the front door, okay?"***

 **IceBite: "Then...that means everyone can get out...door's already unlocked…"**

 **M3: *Stares at IceBite* "I said that to keep them from rushing into the studio...That's why...Ah forget it."**

 **IceBite: "Well...I didn't know that, so...anyways, why IS it unlocked? Did you forget to lock it or something?"**

 **M3: *Confused* "No...I locked it. There was supposed to be a big removable lock on the door...except it's not there… ..." *Eyes widen* "I think someone broken in while we were gone."**

 **IceBite: *eyes widen* "Maybe… … …" *whirls around, whipping out his Ouja Advent Deck, before sliding it into the V-Buckle that appeared from the metal of the bus, turning IceBite into Kamen Rider Ouja***

 **M3: *Turns back towards the bus, seeing Gene about to set off with plenty of other people behind him* "Hey, get back on the bus! Me and Ice have to search the studio for intruders and I don't want anyone to get hurt if you run in there before us!"**

 ***The passengers reluctantly head back...except for Alma. She actually got off the bus despite what M3 said.***

 **IceBite: "Alma, you-"**

 **Alma: *looks sternly at him...before raising a hand, clenching...the Necrom Eyecon. She presses it***

 **Necrom Eyecon: "STAND BY!"**

 **M3: *Somewhat annoyed* "Fine, you can join us, Alma."**

 **Alma: *smirks, then continues procedure***

 **Necrom Eyecon: "YES SIR! LOADING!"**

 **Necrom Damashii: "TENGAN: NECROM! MEGA ULORD! CRUSH INVADER!"**

 **Kamen Rider Necrom: "Then let's get going…"**

 ***M3 opens the studio door, holding it open for Alma and Ice to get inside before heading in as well and closing it.***

* * *

 ***The foyer room of the studio looks exactly like it was before the vacation trip. It was still clean and nothing was out of place. However, M3 and Ice noticed the left hallway path had pieces of a broken door littered around the ground. ***

 **M3: *To Ice*"I'm getting the feeling that I should check out this side of the studio, while you and Alma check the residential area."**

 **Kamen Rider Ouja: "Right…"**

 ***M3 headed off to the left hallway as Ice and Alma headed to the residential area.***

* * *

 ***In the residential area***

 **Kamen Rider Ouja: "Hmmm? I think I hear something...stick close…"**

 **Kamen Rider Necrom: *Nods* "Alright…"**

 **Both: *approach a door...before kicking it open and aiming their weapons in, finding…***

 **Severa: "GAH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"**

 **Kamen Rider Necrom: *robotic voice* "Us? We live here. State your names, intruders."**

 **Owain: "Intruders? Why, I heard that this is where some of my family ended up, and I, Owain, came to see them!"**

 **Kamen Rider Ouja: "Now, hold on there! Let's try to settle this WITHOUT fighting…" *freezes, then sighs* "Previous owner of this Kamen Rider Identity is an utter sadist and now I, the current holder of the identity, is trying to settle things peacefully…"*inhales* "Anyways...I'm Daniel, and this is Alma...or respectively, Kamen Rider Ouja and Kamen Rider Necrom...As Alma pointed out, we live in this studio…" *Turns to Owain* "You said some of your family was here...who would this family be?"**

 **Owain: "Ah! My beloved family, who was said to be staying at this 'Studio' would be my Uncle, Chrom, along with his wife, Maribelle. Then, my cousins Lucina and Brady, were also said to be here!"**

 **Severa: "AHEM!"**

 **Owain: "Oh, and Severa's with me…Looking for her father, Henry..."**

 **Kamen Rider Ouja: "I see…" *turns to Necrom* "You see, these two are related to some of the others…"**

 **Kamen Rider Necrom:*normal tone* "Then, if they aren't the intruders...who ARE?!"**

* * *

 ***In the hallway, leading to the Camera room…***

 ***M3 slowly made his way towards the Camera room, keeping his eyes out for the intruders. He reaches where the doorway that allows access to the room, but the door was missing...and found it in pieces further into the room.***

 ***Once M3 is inside, he notices how messy the room was. There was equipment scattered everywhere, even a broken robot was lying...on the ground…***

 **Magma Bot: *Sees M3 and screams in fear as he tries to crawl away from him***

 **M3: *Walks in front of Magma Bot, and politely says, "If you stop screaming and talk to me, I'll let you leave the studio instead of getting shipped out by mail.***

 **Magma Bot: *Stops screaming, but remains in fear as he nods in agreement.***

 **M3: "Good. Now, you answer my questions...and make sure to not skip out on details."**

* * *

 ***Several minutes later, inside the foyer.***

 ***M3 heads back to the foyer by himself as Ice and Alma (both de-henshined) return with 7 new tagalongs. M3 recognized two of them, but not the others.***

 **IceBite: "So...you find the intruders?"**

 **M3: "That depends on how many you found… … and why are there seven people behind you and Alma?**

 **IceBite: "Oh, these are Owain and Severa, and Owain's partners, the Taros...apparently, Owain's Kamen Rider Den-O…and Severa's apparently Kamen Rider Drive, what with her having Mr. Belt with her."**

 **Mr. Belt: "Indeed…"**

 **M3: *Momentary turns to the side and slaps himself before saying to himself, "** _ **I'm starting to run out of rooms...and there's more and more people showing up with Kamen Rider equipment…When is this ever going to end?"***_

 **M3: *Turns back around, trying to play it off with, "Sorry, had to make sure I keep myself awake… ...These people showed up out of portals I assume?"***

 **Severa: *stopping Owain from talking* "Yes, in fact, we did…"**

 **M3:*Awkwardly says, "Good. That means you guys ain't intruders...well, technically you are… ...but not for this studio. Me and Ice here, *Points at Ice* are giving anyone who shows up around here by portals a place to stay... So, welcome to the studio."***

 **Owain: "And I thank you, owners of this...Studio...for the chance to stay!"**

 **Ryutaros: "YAY! NEW HOME!"**

 **IceBite: "So...what of you? What or who did you find?"**

 **M3: "I found one intruder, but he's basically going nowhere at this moment…" *Looks at Owain and Severa* "Did you two happen to run into a robot recently?"**

 **Owan and Severa: *look at each other***

 **Severa: "One that locked us up in a room when we discovered it and its companion...when the Taros broke us out, we ended up catching it and beating it to a pulp...the other one fled, though…"**

 **M3: *A bit surprised* "So he did lie to me...Hmmm, I wonder if his companion is who I think it is…"**

 **IceBite: "You don't mean…Fake-You, do you?"**

 **Severa: "Actually, if I'm right, it was YOU they looked like."**

 **IceBite: "SAY WHAT?!"**

 **M3: "Yeah, that sounds like the impostor bots. I found the one that calls itself 'Magma Bot' broken down in the camera room."**

 **Owain: "Aye, that would be the vile fiend my comrades and I defeated!"**

* * *

 **M3: *Thinking about what to do* "I get the feeling that Magma Bot's cohort has already left the studio grounds… ...but he could also still be around as well. *Sighs* "But as long as we have Magma Bot out of commission and locked away, his companion can't disguise himself as me or Ice...assuming they need each other to pull it off."**

 **IceBite: "We should just assume they don't for now…"**

 **M3: "True, but we can also get that info out of Magma Bot if he is cooperative... *Looks at the front door.* "And we still have to inform the folks outside about this...Especially the three new passengers we picked up at the beachhouse."**

 **IceBite: *nods* "Yeah… … …"**

* * *

 ***Sometime later…***

 ***M3 and Ice just got done explaining to the crowd on the bus about what was going on in the studio, except the part about Magma Bot and Ice Bot. M3 told Severa, Owain, and the Taros to keep this to themselves for the time being, along with Ice and Alma.***

 ***What they told the crowd on the bus was that a burglar broke into the studio, but was scared off by Severa and Owain. There were some questions from the crowd, but they got answered without raising suspicion.***

 ***Then M3 allowed everyone to leave the bus and head back to their rooms in the residential area. He did, however, ask Zeldane, Ophelia, and Gene to stick around to discuss about something important as far as they knew.***

 **Gene: "So why do you need me here? You plan on giving me a raise?"**

 **Zeldane: "I am also confused as well...What purpose am I here for?"**

 **Ophelia: "Ditto…"**

 **M3: "I called you all here because I'm going to need help tracking down the second intruder that may still be in the studio… ...And I was lying earlier about that burglar…it's a bit more complicated than that..."**

 ***M3 tells the trio all he knows at the moment.***

 **M3: *Looks at Gene and Zeldane* "I need you two to go transfer Magma Bot to the storage room till I find a better location to keep him in. *Looks at Ophelia* "And as for you, I want you to search through the studio network every few hours in case this other imposter bot tries to mess with our system."**

 **Ophelia: "Very well… … …"**

 **Zeldane: *Seemingly quiet until she speaks up with, "How odd… ...When I jumped over to the terminal in the camera room, I found a comm message that was addressed to Ophelia...except the moment I found it, it disappeared."***

 **M3: *Looks suspiciously at Ophelia.* "And do you have anything to say about that, Ophelia?"**

 **Ophelia: "Hmmm? Uhm…"**

 **Gene: "And if I heard what M3 said correctly, those two...Severa and Owain didn't know what a robot was… meaning it wasn't either of them who used that terminal."**

 **Zeldane: "That leaves only two potential suspects...Magma Bot or his accomplice since they would be the only ones able to use the terminal properly. I will be back to notify if I can retrieve the log and play it." *Zeldane suddenly turns quiet as she leaves her armor.***

 **M3: *Still looking suspiciously at Ophelia.* "Mind telling us what you know now, or wait till Zeldane comes back and make it worse for yourself?**

 **Ophelia: *thinks, before sighing* "While we were gone...I got a call...from the other robot...Apparently, his partner was 'out of it' at the time, and for SOME REASON, I was the first AI he thought of to talk to… … ...he wasn't...all that bad really...in bluntest terms, to those who know Star Wars, Ice Bot, as he's called, is the C-3PO to Magma Bot's R2-D2, never the one who plans these things, just ending up getting dragged along for the ride… … …"**

* * *

 **Zeldane: *Returns, but sounds disappointed* "I apologize, but the log's data was corrupted to the point where I can't restore it. Did I miss anything while I was gone?"**

 **M3: "Ophelia just told us who communicated with her and explained who it was...A robot called 'Ice Bot'. *Looks at Ophelia again* "You sure about Ice Bot being the C-3PO to Magma Bot's R2…*Fumbles with his words* ...I mean, you believe that he may be harmless?**

 **Ophelia: "I wouldn't say 'harmless', per se, he hinted at having a couple additional capabilities even Magma Bot supposedly doesn't have, but a threat to US: not unless Magma Bot drags him into another scheme, and even then… … ...well, he does his best to play the 'sane and reasonable guy' in that pair…"**

 **M3: "Then if Ice Bot is like that, then maybe we can end this in a 'sane and reasonable' way once we find him… ... ...In the meantime, Magma Bot needs to be locked away to keep him from helping Ice Bot and vice versa."**

 **Ophelia: "...I guess that's true...Well...we better go take care of that, then…"**

* * *

 ***At the Camera Room, a few minutes later.***

 ***Gene and Zeldane walk into the room and spot Magma Bot banging on the terminal. They quickly remove him away from the machine and carry him off to the storage room. Once they drop him off next to a pile of rope, they tie him up.***

 ***Gene tells Zeldane to head off while he handles Magma Bot by himself. Once Zeldane was gone, Gene speaks up saying, "** _ **Ovx-PD20 Code override. Change Power State.**_ **"***

 ***Magma Bot powers down as Gene can be seen ominously smiling.***

* * *

 ***Meanwhile***

 **Ice Bot: *runs through the halls, trying to find a place to hide… … ...only to run into a suit of power armor* "Gah-AH!"**

 **Ophelia: "Ice Bot! It's me!"**

 **Ice Bot: "O-Ophelia? Oh, good...that's good, I guess…Wait, if you're back, then-"**

 **Ophelia: "Yeah, the others're back too...and...Triple-M knows about our chat…"**

 **Ice Bot: "Wha-...I knew this was gonna happen...how screwed am I?"**

 **Ophelia: "Not very, actually…he agreed with the analogy I gave him and hoped we could settle things peacefully…"**

 **Ice Bot: "That's a relief, I suppose…"**

 ***Silence***

 **Ophelia: '... … ...So…"**

 **Ice Bot: "...I should get moving...the last thing you need is to get caught talking to me…" *leaves***

 **Ophelia: "Uhm-well-actually-uh...oh…"*leaves***

* * *

 _ **(Last *Meanwhile* in this A/N Section. We really mean it.)**_

 ***Meanwhile, elsewhere in a nearby city***

 **?: *The lyrics of the song Action-ZERO by Yuichi Nakamura & Hōchū Ōtsuka can be heard, as the camera closes in on an abandoned portion of the city; it gets louder as the camera closes on an abandoned warehouse...until...the singer came into view***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: "** _ **Tsuyoki mono ni tsuyoki chikara**_

 _ **Itte oku "kanari tsuyoi ze"**_

 _ **Kiwametsuke no Vega Ultair**_

 _ **Hajimaru Battle (Don't Stop) Action-ZERO**_

 _ **Tsuyoki kokoro tsuyoki negai**_

 _ **Kasanaru toki muteki ni naru**_

 _ **Dual shiyou Vega Ultair**_

 _ **Kuridasu Attack (Don't Stop) Action-ZERO**_

 _ **Tsuyoki mono kasanareba...**_

 _ **Kiwametsuke no Vega Ultair Action-ZERO**_

 _ **Sore wa saikyou no imi...**_

 _ **Dual shiyou Vega Ultair Action-ZERO"**_

 **Zilver Sero Connor: *approaches* "Will you stop with the singing? It stopped being interesting after hearing the first time. And we REALLY need to get moving...Like now."**

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: "Yeah, yeah, I know…" *looks over the warehouse* "Ya know...I'm gonna miss this place…"**

 **Zilver Sero Connor: "You actually liked being in here? *In a dry tone* "If you want, I can wait till you say good bye to the dust piles before we leave."**

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *shrugs***

 **Zilver Sero Connor: *Heading back downstairs and jokingly says* By the way, I think I hear the roof starting to break...So you better get moving."**

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *chuckles a little, before patting his hand on the roof* "... … …" *stands up and prepares to walk away...before turning to the reader* "Get ready for one wild ride, readers!" *runs off after Zilver Sero Connor***

 **End Author's Notes**

 _ **(Finally!)**_


	17. Chapter 17: Trials of the Lone Wanderer

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***The camera room is cleaned up and the two commentators that are in front of the camera consist of Leon and Cait.**

 **Leon: "Welcome back to our little show."**

 **Cait: "Today, we have a chapter that marks the beginning of something very interesting involving a 'certain band of people' in the Shepherds.**

 **Leon: "How about we get that chapter started already before we end spoiling what happens...Mind doing the honors, Cait?"**

 **Cait: *Deliberately goes off script* "Will do, Leon. So, the first-"**

 ***Camera switches over loading screen.***

 ***Chapter 17 loading…***

 ***Loading...loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 17 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Trials of the Lone Wanderer**

 **The next day...**

Leon was sitting in his tent, building another Shishkabob to use in repairing his other one. The radio feature on his Pipboy was left on as it played music. Then as he just got done attaching the lawn mower blade to the handlebar, the voice of Three Dog replaced the music.

" _ **HELLO Capital Wasteland! It's THREE DOG! Man, do I have a story to tell from the past. Trust me kiddies, this is important history to remember for one day."**_

" _ **Long ago, I reported several stories about that kid from 101 and gave my opinion on what he accomplished. But ever since I was booted off the air, I wasn't able to talk about what the kid accomplished since then. THAT ends today, because our first big story is about 101 and the Brotherhood of Steel."**_

 _ **Now because their 'elder' is elsewhere, I can freely tell the truth. For those who weren't in the Capital in recent years, the Brotherhood is in charge of this place. And the kid has a history with them. The kid helped them out, but at some point they broke ties with him."**_

 _ **And according to a few inside sources of mine, it had to do with the new elder getting into a argument with the kid about something important. I reached out for the kid to provide info on what happened, but I never got a response. And that's where my story ends."**_

" _ **Stay tuned for my three day forecast."**_

Music started playing, but Leon stopped what he was doing as he turned off the radio. He took a quick moment to sigh before he went back to work on the Shishkabob. It took a bit longer than usual for him to finish building the weapon.

* * *

 **A few hours later, at Aria's tent...**

Kyle was sitting back in a chair, listening to the radio as it played one of his favorite songs. Of course, since Aria was busy reading, the volume was turned down to avoid distracting her.

As for Aria, she was reading a 'Boxing Times', with a Meeting People and Salesmen Weekly nearby on the table.

There was nothing going on at the moment that needed to be taken care of around the camp, which meant it was going to be a mundane day.

However, that was about to change as Kyle's music suddenly stopped and replaced with a radio signal message.

The message just said, "For the one known as the Lone Wanderer...Travel to the origin of this message...The trials are waiting." and continued to loop on and on.

"Hey Aria, are you hearing what I'm hearing right now?" Kyle asked as he checked the radio tab on his Pipboy.

Aria analyzed what she heard. "...I definitely hear something...something about 'the Lone Wanderer' being called to a location?"

"Yeah...apparently to do some sort of trials. But...there's something really off about it...Besides the fact it didn't provide how to get to the 'location' it's talking about." Kyle noted.

"What're you thinking about?" Aria asked.

"Think about it for a second, Aria. It's a radio signal that has a message, it knows what Leon used to be called back in the Wasteland, and the only thing we have to a real radio is Veronica's hobbled up version in her tent…" Kyle said.

Aria thought for a moment and nodded. "That is suspicious...just what is going on?" The last part seemed directed at no one.

"...And we still don't know who sent it. For all we know, it could be someone from the Wasteland or something else from this world...despite lacking the technology...needed to send a signal...that can be caught..." The Courier added as he realized how to find the location in the message.

"You figured something out…" Aria managed to deduce from Kyle's reaction.

"I need to talk to Veronica and see if she can trace where this signal is coming from. If we can do that, we may also find out who is doing this." Kyle stated, before heading out for Veronica's tent.

Aria nodded. "And I'll gather Chrom and the others: at least so we can be ready to move out…"

* * *

 **Two days later...**

The radio signal was tracked down to a small island, way to the south and east on the map. After the group arrived on the island, the signal continued inland. It led them to a wide open field with hills that had something much more familiar...to the Wastelanders.

It was a steel door that was placed on the side of a hill, except it was rusted and on the verge of crumbling apart. And its design was based on the utility type of doors that led to maintenance sections of buildings.

Kyle carefully approached the door and gave it a kick, causing it to fall backwards and break into large chunks of metal. The other Wastelanders helped Kyle move the large chunks of metal out of the entrance and onto a different part of the hill.

Then the group entered, with the Wastelanders taking the lead. It went down till they reached a large open area that had electrical lighting in the ceiling...further signaling that this place wasn't originally here.

This wide open area had two points of interest. One was a pair of metal doors that had a terminal nearby one of the doors ahead of the entrance. The other one was another maintenance door, this one right of the entrance.

Veronica and Leon decided to check the terminal while Kyle, Travis, and Cait looked around and determined that they were in a underground bunker, given they found a few corners in the room had dirt walls exposed.

However, as much as the Wastelanders knew about these underground structures, the same cannot be said for the Shepherds.

Aria commented, "I have never seen architecture like this...nor have I read much that has anything resembling it… … ...except…"

"Except you won't find this architecture anywhere else. This is definitely from the wasteland...or at least from its Pre-War days." Kyle stated in response.

The former scribe spoke up saying, "Hey Kyle, we got done searching the terminal."

"Good. Anything on it that explains what this bunker is doing here?" Kyle asked.

"I wish...No, what I found instead is two options for opening the nearby doors. One apparently leads to viewing rooms...while the other is to open the 'trial door'." Veronica explained as Leon could be seen using the computer.

Leon ends up selecting the option that opens the 'view rooms' door and the door left of the terminal opened up. And then he selected the other one, which made the 'trial door' open.

Peeking beyond the 'trial door' entrance, Leon spotted another door, except in front of it was a shovel. A single shovel all by itself, with no dirt on it and in decent condition.

* * *

Maybe it was the scavenger instinct, or maybe it was curiosity at work that he had to look at it up closer. Either way, the Capital Wastelander walked inside, stepping on a pressure plate he didn't end up seeing till the last moment.

The door behind Leon slammed shut and he could hear a few people worrying about what happened. At some point, there was this other notable noise that sounded like a bobby pin breaking...Which then became more certain after Cait could be barely heard grumbling about something.

Cait tried to pick the lock again, except only ending up with another broken bobby pin. The failures did nothing to stop her anger from rising, which resulted in her kicking the door a few times. That in of itself did nothing to the door.

Cait gave up and just told the people watching her, "I picked a lot of tough locks back in the Wasteland, but this one takes the cake. It would probably take me a day just to find the sweet spot to get it unlocked...unless anyone here wants to take a shot at unlocking the door."

Gaius stepped forward. "Let me give it a try…" He stepped in and attempted to get through the lock as well...to no avail. "Man, this lock's shut tighter than a glued-shut candy wrapper…"

The lock still had everyone's attention till Travis pointed out, "Uh...I just got back from checking out the other door and we should be heading over there instead...like now."

"But Leon is still locked behind this door and we can't just leave him in there." Kyle answered back.

"Except Leon isn't behind that door, he's currently fighting for his LIFE right now in a different room altogether..." Travis stated, before running past the other open door.

The group followed Travis and found themselves in a very different room. It was just a empty room, save for one big wall that was made of glass. Looking beyond the glass showed Leon… and several tribal-like people trying to attack him with shovels and axes.

But then they saw the more weirder sight, a brain inside a metal and glass container. It looked like some of those tribals were talking to the brain, but that was quickly forgotten as they watched Leon fight.

Leon fought back the tribals with the shovel he found, bashing one at a time till they were all dealt with. It was followed up by Leon throwing the shovel at the glass container in the middle, which broke by the impact. After that, the entire room was filled with smoke and as it cleared up, the tribals and brain were missing.

The sound of a door opening filled the room. Leon looked around to see a new path he had to take and moved on after equipping his Shishkabob.

* * *

Meanwhile, the group also heard a door opening, this one leading to another copy of the current room. Once everyone was inside, the view into the other room allowed them to see Leon enter it.

As Leon entered the new 'arena', he spotted the next door and a familiar person from the past. Actually, it was...No, it still was a person...even if the encounter with them was in a simulation. The person in question was a man in a Pre-War General Outfit and some sort of sword with a electrified blade.

Travis could be seen looking at the general before he blurted out, "No way...That's General Jingwei...How is he even still alive at this point?"

"General?" Aria questioned, "For what army?"

"Jingwei is a general for the People's Liberation Army, the main force of a Pre-War country called China." Travis answered.

"But how do you know this much about him?" Kyle asked.

"I was a soldier for the U.S Army before the great war happened. And one of our enemies from back then was the country of China. In short, every soldier heard of General Jingwei at some point for the countless rumors and exaggerations about him." Travis also answered.

"Another thing: what kind of sword is that? The electricity reminds me of a Levin Blade," Aria commented.

"It's a Chinese officer's sword. It looks the one Cait has, except her lacks the electricity going through the blade. One of the 'more out there' rumors I heard was about this sword, but I though it wasn't real...Guess I was wrong after all." Travis noted as he looked at the sword.

* * *

The Lone Wanderer activated the flames on his weapon and charged at the Chinese general. Their blades clashed against each other until Jingwei was able to barely slash Leon as the electric charge went around his body from making contact with the armor.

This brought the Wanderer to his knees, but allowed for a wide swing across his opponent's legs, bringing the general to the same level. The next swing was aimed at the hand that was carrying the sword and it landed.

Disarmed on both senses, Jingwei started his opponent down as the Shishkabob was brought against his torso, followed by a swift kick to the head knocking the general on his back. Once it was over, Leon said the first thing that came to mind.

"What? No comment on my technique, Jingwei? I learned it from you after all." Leon said while smirking the whole time.

Despite not knowing that he was being watched and heard as well, Veronica knocked on the glass in an attempt to get Leon's attention. It worked because Leon ended up hearing something knock on a wall. Taking his attention, he went up to the wall and knocked back.

Veronica knocked again, before saying, "Leon, It's Veronica. If you can hear me, knock back three times quickly."

The message could be somewhat heard, but Leon did as asked. Placing his ear against the wall, he responded back with, "Nice to hear a friendly voice for once...Hey, is everyone else alright?"

"Yes. We've been watching you fight from this viewing room...And are you alright? " Veronica said.

Leon took a second to get an idea of how he was doing and answered back with, "Besides getting shocked, I still feel fine." A second passed after his response and the room suddenly filled up with smoke.

It cleared and Leon was back to being the only person left inside the 'arena' and the next door opened up. Leon relayed one more thing, which was basically him saying that once he was out of whatever he was in, he would find a way to reunite with the group. Then the Wanderer made his way down the new pathway.

* * *

Another door was opened on the group's side and they followed along the path they were being led. With the same viewing room design as the last two, the group looked into the new room Leon was heading into.

Compared to the previous rooms, the Wastelanders in the group were surprised by what they saw. It looked to be six individuals, 4 armed with a laser rifle, 1 with a plasma rifle, and 1 incinerator… ...Decked out in black Power Armor. To say that they were worried about Leon's chances would be a understatement.

Veronica spoke up saying, "Wait...I think I recognize those guys...Enclave soldiers...And they don't seem to be the 'friendly ones' I know."

Aria turned to Travis. "Would you happen to know anything about this 'Enclave'?" she asked him.

Travis retorted back, "I...only heard of them, never ran into anyone that was actively in the Enclave. So, you'll have to ask someone else. "

Veronica got Aria's attention and told Kyle, "You know more than I do about the Enclave, Kyle." as she got his attention.

Kyle quickly remembered as much as he can before responding with, "To answer your question, Aria...The Enclave was a secret organization made of up of remnants of the country's government...the country being the United States of America...the same place that ended up being the Wasteland."

Aria nodded, before turning to Veronica. "And what did you mean by 'the friendly ones'?" she asked.

"I was referring to the small squad of Enclave members that me and Kyle know. This squad has one of our mutual friends involved...and they helped us out when it was needed. Hence why I consider them to be the 'friendly' ones." Veronica mentioned as she briefly looked at the soldiers beyond the glass.

Aria nodded. "I see…" She then looked at the Enclave Soldiers in the Trial Area. "...I can certainly see these would be the non-friendly kind...their armor appears highly advanced...much like Travis', only in different types it appears…"

* * *

The door opposite the soldiers opened, and the instant Leon saw the black power armor soldiers, his expression changed. Quickly swapping out his Shishkabob for his plasma rifle, Leon pushed a button on his Pipboy.

In the span of a few seconds, eight shots were fired out and collided with the soldiers. The ones wearing the standard Enclave power armor were turned into green goo, while the soldier in the Tesla version took the remaining four shots. This resulted in one last soldier remaining...The one in the Hellfire variant.

In response to losing his allies, the soldier started spewing fireballs out with his incinerator towards Leon. Dodging out of the way, Leon returned fire and nailed his opponent with a plasma bolt to the torso.

However, that didn't stop more volleys of fireballs from being aimed at the Wanderer. This time, Leon was barely able to dodge getting set on fire as the incinerator ran out of fuel. Using the opportunity, Leon fired a plasma bolt towards the incinerator and severely damaged the heavy weapon.

The Hellfire soldier threw his weapon away towards Leon, while he planned to grab the plasma rifle from one of his comrades. The incinerator ended up landing short of hitting Leon, who fired another bolt towards the soldier.

The bolt struck the soldier's head, disorientating him, but not finishing him off due to the Power armor helmet protecting against the damage. Using the last shot in the rifle's clip, Leon aimed once more at the soldier's head.

The bolt was fired and slammed into the opponent, ending the fight as he fell forward towards the ground, not moving afterwards. Smoke appeared and the Enclave soldiers ended up disappearing as well, followed by the next door in Leon's path opening.

* * *

Continuing down a maintenance tunnel, Leon arrived at one more door and waited for it to open. Once he was able to see the other side, he was relieved to see that it wasn't another fight. Instead, it was a table that had a sword on it and not just any plain old sword...It was Jingwei's shocksword.

Leon carefully picked up the sword by its handle and made sure the switch that turned on the electricity was on the off position After scanning over the sword, Leon looked around to see one last door, this one with its own switch. He quickly activated it and finally saw that he was back near the entrance used to get into the bunker.

As the group wondered where Leon went, they decided to head back to the main room, hoping Leon would have found his way back there. And they were right.

Once Leon saw the crowd again, he spoke up saying, "Don't worry about me, I just found the exit out of those trial rooms...and found this along the way." while also showing the new sword he acquired.

Aria then advanced. "Say, Leon...you seemed like you knew some of your opponents...especially those 'Enclave' soldiers…was that the case, or...am I overanalyzing things?"

"Yes...to the first part you said. I knew who my opponents were…They were some adversaries from my past. The first fight..." Leon answered, before going into more detail about the people he fought.

For the first fight, it was against a man or brain that was called Calvert, who was the leader of the tribals armed with shovels and axes. Leon provided a quick summary of the events leading to meeting Calvert before moving onto General Jingwei.

After finding a way to explain what a 'simulation' was to Aria and the others who didn't know, Leon mentioned that he never really fought the 'real' Jingwei, just a 'simulated' version. However, when asked if that was really was Jingwei, there was no definite answer from Leon. He was stumped on how they were here, despite the fact they were dead for a long time.

But when Leon was about to bring up the enclave soldiers, his tone changed. What was told to the others was that the six soldiers were a squad called Sigma and that they worked for the Enclave. Then came what Leon thought about their organization…

"The Enclave are the worst scum I ever met...And I mean it when I say that. The end goal of theirs was to cleanse the Capital region of anything living in the Wasteland with radiation in them, which was the most boneheaded, ruthless, and just plain stupid plan of theirs." Leon stated in a tone that spoke volumes about how much he loathed them.

"Sounds like your hatred is a bit...personal…" Aria analyzed.

"Trust me, if you knew what they did to ME personally, you'll understand why I loathe them." Leon commented.

"...What did they do?" Aria asked, almost dreading hearing the answer, whatever it was.

Leon hesitated before answering with, "They… ...killed my father. I was helping him restarting a project he was doing to help the Capital region...and out of nowhere, the Enclave showed up attacking the place we were in. My father... ended up sacrificing himself trying to stop them and...I saw that happen before I had to escape."

"Oh...I'm sorry… … ...did the project...you know...ever get finished?" Aria asked, sympathetically, but her curiosity also taking over.

Once again, Leon's tone changed, significantly more positive this time as he said, "It did...The project was to provide massive amounts of radiation clean water to the region by purifying a entire river. It worked and...I was able to finish what my father started. "

"Purifying an entire river," Aria repeated, eyes wide, "...From what you all told me...that's quite the accomplishment…"

"Let's just say it was a massive step in improving life in the Capital region...and If I had to do that again, I would." Leon said, taking what Aria said in stride.

* * *

Cait found her way past the other Wastelanders and immediately eyed the sword Leon was carrying. And after remembering what she heard Travis say about the sword, she wanted it.

Of course, to take it out of Leon's hands by force wasn't going to work well, so Cait decided to see if she was able to convince him to hand it over without bargaining for a price..

"Say, that's one unique sword you got there, Leon. Would you be open to trading it for the sword I'm carrying?" Cait said in a rather pleasant tone.

The Lone Wanderer seemingly agreed, except when he said, "Yes, I am...But I want to see the sword you plan to swap over in this agreement before we go any further."

Cait followed along by getting her officer's sword removed from one of her holsters. She quickly tried to make it sound more valuable by mentioning, "As you can see, it's in great condition, been battle tested plenty of times, and you can modify it with the right know-how...and if you don't, Trav here can do it for you."

It was at this point Travis whispered into Cait's ear, _"I can't actually do that right now, Cait. I don't have enough tools to modify weapons."_

" _Then don't say that to Leon until we get this trade done, I want that sword, even if it means I have to sweeten the deal with caps."_ Cait said back, dropping her pleasant tone.

The little bargain went on till Leon agreed to trade swords. Cait passed her officer's sword over to Leon and he did the same with his sword.

The Irish fighter immediately checked the shocksword, placing one of her hands on the blade as she looked at from various angles. A switch on the handle was found and wondered what it was for.

Leon noticed Cait focusing on the switch tried to warn her with, "Be careful with that switch. That activates-" He was interrupted by a loud shriek of pain coming from Cait, who dropped the shocksword onto the ground...followed by her own body.

Thankfully, she only zapped herself to the point where her legs temporarily stopped working. They quickly recovered, meaning Cait was back to standing up just fine. She grabbed her new sword (carefully) and threw the switch the other way.

"Like I said, the switch activates the electricity on that sword…As you demonstrated." Leon half-heartedly joked.

The redhead shot an angry look at Leon before holstering the sword.

Aria, meanwhile, at least TRIED to hide her amusement...she could never FULLY forgive Cait for her past actions, so seeing her zap herself like this amused her a bit. This didn't get unnoticed by the Irish fighter, but nothing ended up happening...beyond giving the same angry look to the Tactician.

* * *

Soon, however, an old man approached the group, hunched over on his cane. The Wastelanders were just about to question why the old man was doing here, but the old fellow started talking before they could.

"Excuse me, but mind if I ask what you are doing here?"

"The same question can be said to you, old man. So, why don't you start answering first?" Cait suggested.

The old man stared at Cait for a second, before answering back with, "Oh pardon...I came down here to see what happened in this mysterious location. You see, I found the entrance a few days ago, but never dared to enter. Now miss, you mind saying why 'you and the women'… ...and men behind you are here?"

Cait responded back with, "We are here because there was some 'trial' that one of us needed to be here to complete it...and now that I'm thinking about it, did you happen to see any odd looking people enter this location, besides us?"

The old fellow didn't answer immediately, due to him still staring at Cait. His attention went back to the question as he said, "Sorry, I was taken away by your beautiful appearance… I mean...I did see some mysterious warriors and a strange leader enter the bunker recently."

Cait got creeped out from being started at by the old man, so she quickly placed Veronica on the spot by saying, "Interesting...my friend Veronica here actually has something to say about those people you saw."

Veronica sighed before having to step forward to start talking. "About those mysterious people, one of ours did fight them, but it seemed they disappeared into thin air after the room was filled with smoke. Did you happen to see any of them leaving this place when you entered?"

The answer she was looking never came. Instead, the old man just said, "You should put that hood down and let your hair be seen."

"Uh… Mr.-" Veronica tried to say.

"You want to know my name, I take it? I'm known as Hubba, but these old bones of mine left everyone calling me 'Old Hubba'. Of course, I'm not that 'old' if you care to know…" The old man interrupted with.

"No, I don't. Can you answer the question I asked you, Hubba?" Veronica said back, this time in a more serious tone.

Hubba shook his head for a second before answering by saying, " I never saw anyone leave while heading inside here. But you did say that it seemed like they disappeared into thin air… … … I need to ask, were there any cards on the ground once they were gone?"

"Cards?... I never saw any cards on the ground after the fights involving them…Is there something important with those cards?" Veronica asked, confused about where this was going.

Old Hubba started explaining why he brought up the cards. Apparently, these cards had the ability to summon phantoms of past heroes or villains, either from the Shepherds' world or any connected to their's in any way. He further explained the Einherjar were loyal to those that summoned them and can therefore be used for good or ill, in spite of whether the Phantom was a hero or a villain in life. Finally, when defeated, said Phantoms are reduced to their card form, but can be summoned again later, either by the previous summoner or, if they don't recover the card, whoever does recover the card.

With the explanation over, Leon quickly bolted back to the trial door, which was still open. A few minutes later, Leon returned with several odd looking cards in his hands. Letting Hubba see them, he confirmed that they were Einherjar cards.

Following that, Leon handed the cards over to Hubba, telling the old man that he didn't want to hold on to them or even want to see them again. After the old fellow put the cards away, he made a request for the group.

In short, he was the main holder of the Einherjar, but he lost many of them to someone who managed to trick him into giving them to them, so he wanted help getting them back. The group agreed to lend their assistance, but made sure to ask if they could spend a few days around this bunker to fully investigate it. Hubba allowed it as long as any cards they find be sent back to him.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

After setting up camp a decent bit away from the bunker, the group had to retire for the night. The current plan was to spend the next three days on the island in case more radio signal came out from the bunker.

End Chapter 17.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back to Leon and Cait.***

 **Leon: "And that was the chapter..."**

 **Cait: *Getting the cue to speak.* "...Speaking of which, we can now talk about the fights."**

 **Leon: "Yeah...those were...actually a bit easy for me, all things considered."**

 **Cait: "But what about the fact you had to do three of them?"**

 **Leon: "Well, i was a bit tired after going through them, but that's about all I can really say about it."**

 **Cait: *Tries to spoil something major again.* "Then the only thing I need to say is that the next chapter is going-" *The camera switches to footage of a technical difficulties screen before turning off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	18. Chapter 18: Trial of the Sole Survivor

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***Travis and Veronica can be seen in front of the camera, with Cait and Leon further away in the background.***

 **Travis: * After noticing the camera was on, he simply said, "Welcome back to the show."***

 **Veronica: "Before we get on with the chapter, I need to note this chapter will be different than the last one."**

 **Travis: "Yes, it will be and that's all we will say at the moment."**

 ***Leon and Cait start arguing and start disrupting the commentary.***

 ***M3 can be seen heading towards the two and once he was near them started telling them they had to leave.***

 ***They leave the camera room and M3 returns back to his position behind the camera.***

 **Veronica: "With that interruption taken care of...How about we start the chapter?**

 **Travis: "Yeah, we should start it now."**

 ***Camera switches to loading screen.***

 ***Chapter 18 Loading...loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 18 starts playing.***

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Trial of the Sole Survivor**

 **The following day...**

The Sole Survivor was up and about, taking inventory of the junk scattered around his tent. In his hands was the list, detailing the amount of items in question. While that was going on, his radio on the Pipboy was on. The song it was playing just ended and it was time for the host to speak.

" **This is Travis 'Lonely' Miles, coming at you from Diamond City Radio. We got a recent update about a news story I brought up a few days ago. It was about the sudden illness harming the brahmin used by the traders coming from Bunker Hill."**

" **Thankfully, the illness is currently gone and the traders are back to work all thanks to a Minutemen doctor that was sent to help. I, for one, am glad that the Minutemen were there to help out."**

" **In other news, the local reporter for Diamond City is looking to hire new people to find stories for 'Publick Occurrences'. Please remember there is only so many positions open currently, so if you need a job, head to Diamond City. I would have signed up, but the radio needs me here, not that I mind."**

" **And we got music on the way. But first, we need to thank one of our sponsors… … …-"**

The advertisement was ignored by Travis as he searched for rolls of duct tape in one of the piles of junk. He quickly found two rolls of the military grade version, and placed them on the nearby table and marked down two rolls.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at Aria's tent…**

The Courier and Tactician were in the middle of a battle that would determine the fate of their lives. Whoever lost would suffer the greatest consequences imaginable. Currently, they were at a stalemate as the Courier planned out an attack.

Selecting the right position to attack, he sent out his weapon and went on the offense. The attack landed taking out the critical advantage the Tactician needed. With the advantage gone, The Tactician had her turn to attack back...by moving her pawn forward by one space.

The battle was actually a game of chess. There was no grave danger, no consequences… Just a game they decided to play for fun.

This game went on for a while, with Aria gradually losing chess pieces, while Kyle was getting closer and closer to winning. No matter what plan she came up with, Kyle was there to ruin it with every move he made.

Eventually, Kyle had won the game and asked for a rematch. But before they could even start again, Aria wanted to know what he did to win.

"...Really, how did you beat me? I tried...EVERYTHING!" Aria commented.

"I just moved the pieces where I felt I had to place them, after remembering what each piece could do. Otherwise, that's it." Kyle honestly admitted.

Aria looked at him for a moment, before saying, "...You almost make it sound like that was your first game…"

"That depends, I could just be feigning ignorance just to trick you in the game...Or I had no idea what I was doing….What do you think, Aria?" Kyle asked, waiting for her to respond.

Aria didn't know which to guess, causing her to just remain silent.

"Okay, I was saying that to mess with you. That actually was my first game of chess, which still surprises me that I won." Kyle said.

"Are you KIDDING ME?!" Aria yelled, before slumping miserably.

"No, I'm not kidding. That really was my first game." Kyle said, with a bit of worry sprinkled in his voice.

"How are you so GOOD at the game then?!" Aria practically cried.

Kyle thought out his answer before he just said, "I guess I was just extremely lucky to play the game well. I'm...just that lucky."

"How do you plan on proving that?" Aria asked.

Activating his Pipboy, Kyle cycled through the menus till he found what he was looking for. He pulled out of storage a deck of playing cards and placed them on the table.

"Here's how I'll prove it. I'm going to hand this deck of cards over to you and you need to shuffle it as many times as you want. Once that is over, deal out one card and I'll explain the rest." Kyle said while he pushed the deck over to Aria.

Aria nodded. "Alright…"

A card was placed in the table, the card itself being a king. Kyle quickly explained that he was going to be playing a game of blackjack and the rules about the game. He had to reach 21, but not go over it, but he could draw as many cards as he wants till he hits the limit.

Starting with a king, Kyle drew two cards. It was a 10 and a ace, meaning he got 21. Then the next set started with a 2. The next two cards were 9 and 10, making yet another 21. This continued on several times till Kyle had 9 sets of cards that equaled to 21.

Aria's eyes widened. "I...see…"

"Funnily enough, because of my luck, I been banned from every casino I been into after I won too much. So, if my group holds a card night and we start betting money, I would be richer by the end." Kyle said, before chuckling at what would happen.

"But...you wouldn't REALLY try to bankrupt us… … ...would you?" Aria asked.

"If that scenario happens, I'll just give everyone's money back. You guys still need it to buy supplies, weapons, and whatever else you need...After all." Kyle stated.

Aria nodded, smiling, relieved. "Alright then…"

Taking a second to clean up the cards and placing them back in the deck, Kyle moves the deck over and points towards the chessboard saying, "Now, let's get back to that rematch...You have a 'chance' now that you know my secret."

"...Yeah...maybe…" Aria replied, still sulking a bit.

* * *

A radio message interrupted the rematch. The only content to the message was "For the one known as the Sole Survivor...General of the Minutemen...Travel to the bunker...The trial awaits."

Their chess game was paused as Kyle and Aria got ready to get moving. Kyle let Aria leave first and once she was out of sight, he moved one of her chess pieces that would allow for a win. If he didn't do that, Aria would have lost in the next two turns.

Then the Courier left to go catch up with the Tactician. After some additional time, the entire group was on their way to the bunker.

* * *

 **A few hours later, inside the Trial Bunker…**

The group was inside the main room of the underground bunker looking at the trial door. The person who had to be sent in according to the message was Travis. But there was some confusion about the 'trial' part of the message.

Comparing to the one meant for Leon, it implied multiple trials, and yet, Travis' message is going to face only one trial. It made everyone feel uneasily given that they had no idea who Travis would be facing..or even if would be fighting at all.

Eventually, Travis stepped up to the terminal, selected the options to open the trial and viewing

Rooms, and went on in after everyone else was in the viewing room.

The first room Travis entered was empty and after a few minutes passed, the door in front opened up, with no one behind it. Travis moved on, slightly confused at what to expect for the next room. The crowd also moved on to the next viewing room.

The second room for Travis repeats, but after the door ahead opens up, he equips his silenced pistol and cautiously advances. The onlookers started getting anxious, given that the next room could be where this trial starts. Their door opens and move onward.

* * *

However, this was the end of the repeat as they saw a man inside the room past the glass. His outfit proved that he was from the Wasteland, given the design of the clothes. But what stood out was the gun holster and metal shoulder...and the Magnum in his hands.

It was a .44 Magnum as pointed out by the Wastelanders, except for the fact the barrel of the gun was modified to be much longer than the standard barrel. Once that was pointed out, Cait stared at the man till she connected the dots.

"Wait a minute...I know who that guy is...That's...Kellogg." Cait said out loud.

"Who?" Aria asked.

"Kellogg...was the one person Travis spent a long time tracking down. I never saw him in person, but Travis told me everything he learned about that man. And…" Cait tried to explain, before Travis entered the room.

The onlookers switched their focus back to the room beyond the glass.

When Travis laid his eyes on Kellogg, he ended up saying, "So...we end up meeting again."

"You know, I thought I remember you telling me we meet somewhere else...and yet here we are." Kellogg responded back.

"Except I know that I'm alive. As for you, I'm going to send you directly to hell...and when I die, I'm going to be there to kill you again...for the last time." Travis said, his words showing the anger he was feeling.

The fight started as Kellogg shot at Travis, missing due to Travis dodging out of the way. Three more rounds were fired off from Kellogg, still missing his opponent.

Travis returned fire and nailed Kellogg in one of his legs, but accomplished nothing as he fired off another bullet towards Travis. This one still missed, allowing Travis to fire back.

Kellogg's other leg was hit...and then Travis sprinted towards his opponent and pistol whipped Kellogg's head. In response, Kellogg tried to do the same with his magnum, but Travis stopped it.

The two struggled to wrestle control of the magnum until Travis placed his pistol against Kellog's arm and pulled the trigger. This allowed Travis to force the magnum to be pointed towards Kellog's chest...and Travis forced Kellogg to pull his own trigger.

That shot rang out and brought Kellogg to the ground on his back, somehow still alive. The Sole Survivor looked down on his opponent with his pistol and unloaded the remaining ammo in the clip into Kellogg, ending the fight.

Travis heard the door open and quickly looked at it before returning back to Kellogg. The man vanished into thin air, being replaced by a card that fell to the ground. Travis picked the card up, holding it in one hand as he continued onward.

* * *

Once Travis reached the last door at the end of the path, he saw several items that he ended up missing after the door opened. Inside the room was three jury-rigged workbenches that would allow for weapon, armor, and even power armor modification. The only problem at hand was getting them moved, but that was not going to last for long.

Travis left the room and returned to the main room, where the crowd was already there waiting for him. Knowing that there was going to be some questions that were going to be asked, he prepared himself to answer them in detail.

"...What exactly did that man do to you?" Aria asked, remembering what he did at the end of the fight.

"That man...killed my wife in front of me when I woke up from being frozen...after he kidnapped my son...who was just a baby, from his mother's arms." Travis solemnly said.

"Did you ever fight him? As in, actually fight _HIM_? And...did you...ever find your son?" Aria asked.

"I did get to fight him...But he still ended up here, even after I was sure he was dead. As for my son...I did find him after all, still alive… ...But he's fine now." Travis noted, but started tearing up once he started talking about his son.

After recovering and cleaning his face of tears, he quickly asked for help moving the workbenches in the other room back to the camp. A few people volunteered and started transporting the equipment.

The group left the bunker a bit later and ran into Old Hubba again. When he asked if they found any new cards, Travis showed the one he was carrying.

However, once Travis handed the card over, he suggested that Hubba should destroy that it. The old collector asked why, leading to Travis explaining how the phantom on that card ruined his life and how he never wants to see that card again.

Hubba managed to convince Travis that he'll hold onto the card, but lock it away so that it could be never used again. Once Travis heard that, he thanked the old man for agreeing to do that.

* * *

 **Back at the camp...**

The workbenches were dropped off in Travis' tent, which Travis planned to start disassembling the surplus clothes and armor taken from the battlefield. Except he was going to get started on that tomorrow.

Instead, he was going to sleep early given what he had done today. Sleep was just about to start when Kyle showed up and was asking for a favor.

"Travis, I'm sorry to barge in… ...I need your help with something important." Kyle said as he waited for Travis to respond.

"If it's that important, I'll help...once you tell me you little project is." Travis retorted as he got up from his bed.

Kyle carefully told Travis what the important project was and handed over Aria's blue star bottlecap. Travis looked over the cap before telling Kyle to come back tomorrow to collect the item he wanted modified.

* * *

After that, Kyle left for his tent to get to sleep while Travis returned to his bed, He thought that the project Kyle handed him was going to be easy and that what it was for made a lot of sense.

Then the Sole Survivor began dreaming of moments he had with one of his best friends.

End Chapter 18.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back.***

 **Veronica: "So Travis, what did you think of the fight?"**

 **Travis: "I thought the fight went well...Besides going a bit overboard at the end there."**

 ***The camera catches audio of bowling pins getting knocked over outside the room.***

 ***M3 quickly heads to the doorway and closes the door.***

 **Veronica: *Trying to remember what she was going to say next, "Umm...Oh, I got something else to bring up."***

 **Travis: "Is it about that bottle cap Kyle handed to me?"**

 **Veronica: "Yes."**

 **Travis: "If you want to know what the bottle cap is being used for… ...Then I can't tell you or anyone else."**

 **Veronica: "Ah, c'mon, you tell us."**

 ***More bowling pins can be heard falling over, interrupting the commentary.***

 ***Camera turns off as the noise happens again.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	19. Chapter 19: Trials of the Courier

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***The sound of bowling pins getting hit and falling goes through the closed door, distracting the two commentators in front of the camera.***

 **Kyle: *Looking at the door.* "I'm surprised Triple M hasn't stopped that game of bowling already."**

 **Aria: "Well...so long as they remain distracted by it and not bothering us while we work on this…"**

 **M3: *Behind the camera.* "Speaking of which...you two can do this by yourselves. *Runs for the door saying, "Need to get the new bowling equipment I left in my room."***

 ***M3 leaves the camera room.***

 **Kyle: *Somewhat disappointed as he says, "And...now one of us needs to start the chapter when our intro is done..."***

 **Aria: *sighs* "So...who's going to do it?"**

 **Kyle: *Notices the camera is on.* "I'll take care of it...And the camera is on right now."***

 **Aria: "Huh? Oh-uhm… … …"**

* * *

 ***The two commentators get adjusted and start talking.***

 **Kyle: *Trying to get the intro started.* "Hello readers. This is Kyle, acting as a commentator for the chapter… And this is…-"**

 **Aria: "Aria, and didn't we commentate before?"**

 **Kyle: "We did...But it's been a while, so we have to introduce ourselves just in case."**

 **Aria: "Ah...right...still getting used to this…"**

 **Kyle: "So...this new chapter is...relatively unknown to the two of us. Compared to the last two commentaries before us, they got to see the chapter in advance."**

 **Aria: "Yeah, so...we don't know what's coming…"**

 **Kyle: "We do have a idea...but it's just based on what the others told us. Not a lot mind you…"**

 ***Kyle leaves the camera's view and activates the chapter startup on the nearby terminal.***

 ***Chapter 19 Loading…***

 ***Loading...loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 19 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Trials of the Courier**

 **The next day…**

It was early morning in the camp, with people still sleeping as the sun was rising. At some point, the Sole Survivor could be seen walking across the camp ground. His hands carrying a small bag that contained a valuable item that needed to be delivered.

The entrance to Kyle's tent was pushed open and Travis woke up Kyle. After Kyle was fully awaken, Travis placed the bag on the nearby table. The two talked about the item before their conversation ended after Kyle thanked Travis for helping out.

Once Travis left, Kyle opened the bag. He stared at the item for a while and then stored it in his Pipboy before getting distracted by his stomach. The hunger reminded Kyle that the morning meal was going to be served soon, so he left to be there when it was time.

* * *

 **A few hours later, at Aria's Tent...**

" _It's me again, Mr. New Vegas, reminding you that I feel something in the air, and I'm not talking about the heat in the Mojave. And no, it ain't the gamma radiation either."_

 _I'm talking about that feeling you get when you look at someone, that 'feeling' that makes you happy. I hope you listeners all have someone that reacts the same way towards you."_

 _And pardon the interruption, but the newsman fedora needs to be put on. This latest story is about two lovers that met in the Mojave. One was an employee of the Crimson Caravan Company, and the other was a member of the group called the Boomers."_

" _The couple, which didn't tell this story till now, admitted that a lone stranger was the one that brought them together. When one of our reporters asked for more about the stranger, they responded they never asked for his name, but believe that it was the Courier himself."_

" _And that's the story for now. Before we get to the music, I just want to mention the next anniversary of my holotape is approaching soon..."_

The music followed as Kyle got finally got his attention back to the chess game and move a piece forward. This chess game was being played because Aria didn't win the rematch.

Despite Kyle trying to allow Aria to win, he still managed to win that game somehow. This led to Aria wanting to have another game be played, so she could win against Kyle for once. Thus they met again to get this over with, except Kyle was not really focusing on the game while he listened to the radio.

* * *

During the game, however, Aria noticed a move that she could make that could win her the game. After a little more thought, she moved her piece into position, and, seeing no way Kyle could get his king out of check, she declared, "Checkmate…"

"... … … Sorry, what did you say?" Kyle asked, before looking at the chessboard and the pieces. As soon as his mind was back on the game, he took a second to follow up with, "...Oh...Uhm...Congratulations on your first win against me, Aria."

Aria looked rather smug about it. "Looks like your luck _finally_ ran out…" she commented.

"Or maybe I wasn't caring about the game as much as you were during it…" Kyle retorted, before he fidgets around with his Pipboy, causing the music to cut and turn on a few times.

Once the music was back for good, Kyle stared at his Pipboy, his demeanor showing that he was thinking of something that was worrying him.

"...Is something wrong?" Aria asked, "You seem worried…"

"Do you get the feeling that I'm next?" Kyle stated.

Aria was slightly confused. "...'Next'?"

"You know….'Next' for the trials at that bunker. I...I'm not entirely sure, but I just have this hunch...That I'm next and I may…" Kyle clarified before cutting himself off at the end.

"... … ...That you'll come out of it far worse than the others did…" Aria guessed.

"That's part of it… ...I...I'm also worried about how… …-" Kyle said in response and was interrupted by his Pipboy.

The music that the radio tab on Kyle's Pipboy cut off and was replaced by a message. Its contents were "For the one known as the Courier…Travel to the bunker…The trials await."

* * *

With the message looping, Kyle shut off the radio function and sighed before telling Aria that it was time to get over the bunker and get it over with. Aria agreed and headed out to get everyone else ready to head to the location.

As Kyle left the tent, his mind was in a struggle to suppress his growing fear that he would get seriously harmed in the trials. Despite that, he ended up masking what he felt inside in a attempt to be more confident in his chances.

As for Aria, she began thinking over what to expect...one thing she realized was that the past two Wastelanders that underwent trials had to fight past enemies...Aria then began to wonder what kind of past enemies could Kyle have…

* * *

 **A few hours later, at the Trial Bunker...**

Once the group arrived at the bunker, most of the non-participants went straight towards the viewing room. The other Wastelanders didn't immediately leave until they made sure to tell Kyle that they believe he will do fine in the trials. As they left towards the viewing room, there was only one other person left…

"You really should go catch up with the group, Aria. You...won't be able to see the show out here." Kyle joked, with a small amount of worry getting into his words.

"...Who do you expect to face while in there?" Aria asked, "From what I recall of the past trials, the others had to face enemies they'd fought before…"

"Except I fought against too many people to count...So, that leaves a lot of foes to pick from." Kyle answered.

"Well, do any stand out? I mean, any ones that have any significance?" Aria asked.

Kyle thinked about it for a few seconds, responding with, "I did encounter some individuals that did give me trouble...but I didn't exactly 'fight them' head on.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"The people I'm thinking about didn't fight me into a battle of the death. Instead, I either convinced them to give up or I took care of them without killing them." Kyle retorted.

Aria nodded. "Alright...well...I don't think you'll be able to do the same again here, if it IS them…" she replied, "So...just be careful, ok?"

"I will be careful… ...but I'm sure THEY won't show up...Given what Travis and Leon said about their opponents." Kyle said.

Aria nodded. "Alright...even so… … ...I better get with the others..."

Aria started to join the others, but Kyle got her to stop as he stumbled with his words to say, "Wait...I need to say something to you...In case something happens."

"What is it?" Aria asked.

"If...I don't see you again… ...I...wanted to you to know...that...I...lov… ...Never mind...I really shouldn't be saying this now." Kyle tried to say and gave up at the end.

Aria looked at him, before replying, "...Very well...later, then?"

Taking a moment to clear his head, Kyle responded back with, "Yeah...See you after the trials are over." before he headed inside the room beyond the trial door. It shut behind him, closing and locking itself.

Aria waited a moment, before actually heading in. During that wait, she contemplated what Kyle was about to say...what she KNEW he was going to say...this was the second time he tried to say it after all...She soon entered the observation room… … …now more than ever hoping Kyle made it out alive...

* * *

With Aria caught up with the group, Veronica shifted from her spot to let Aria get a better view into the arena room. It was the same room as the previous two times, except for the old man in some sort of blue robes waiting inside it...armed with a similar looking gauss rifle in his hands.

Veronica started talking out loud saying, "...Never expected to see him again…"

Aria looked at her. "You know him?"

"He used to be my mentor...before he ended up disappearing one day, vowing he would wipe the slate clean in the Mojave." Veronica mentioned as she stared at the old man.

"What do you know of him, other than that?" Aria asked.

"Besides his name being Elijah, I know that Kyle him found in some deathtrap location called the Sierra Madre...Which resulted in Elijah using Kyle and three others to break into a casino vault against their will."

"How did he do that?" Aria asked.

"He placed collars around their necks and if they didn't listen to his orders, they would have exploded...and that's a messy way to go if you ask me." Veronica stated.

"What ended up happening?" Aria asked, a bit worried.

"From what Kyle told me so far, the 'team' got out alive after all. As for Elijah, he was locked away from the world in said casino vault with no way out after all the gold inside was taken." Veronica said from memory.

Aria didn't say it aloud, but she realized that this 'Father Elijah' was probably one of the individuals Kyle referenced earlier when he said he didn't defeat them in a straight-up fight.

* * *

The door to the arena on opposite Elijah opened up, showing Kyle ready for a fight. He was armed with his own gauss rifle, already in his own hands. The fight didn't immediately start as Kyle said something to his current opponent.

"Looking at you in person, Elijah...I expected someone who would be wise. Instead all I see is a greedy man that treated people like expendable objects." Kyle said aloud.

"But that's what people are and will be once I get out of this infernal location...After I deal with you." Elijah responded before aiming and firing at Kyle.

The rifle jerked back as the shot got sent out, almost hitting Kyle in the torso. It missed and slammed into the metal door behind Kyle, who fired a shot and missed afterwards.

They started to reload their weapons, Kyle being first as he tried to hit Elijah again. The projectile grazes one of Elijah's arms and does some damage to his robe. In response, Elijah fires back, still missing due to the arthritis in his hands messing up his aim.

Another reloading of the rifle followed and Kyle focused on his next shot. His opponent was already moving, so he aimed where Elijah was going to be fired. The projectile ended up hitting the target, who ended up getting pushed back into the wall behind him.

Elijah ended up dropping his own gauss rifle and as he tried to reach for it, Kyle fired another round into his torso. The old man expelled his last breath before his upper half slumped down and stopped moving.

"Open up the deposit box, I got a old greedy fool to place in." The Courier said aloud, as he watched Elijah vanish. All that was left was the card which Kyle picked up and stored in one of his pockets.

Kyle advanced onward into the next door, but not before he pulled out his ballistic first and named .357 magnum. With the weapons in the right position, he was ready for the next fight.

* * *

The group also moved onto their next room as well. The view inside the next arena room showed a very strangely dressed man. The clothes were more tribal-like and even extended to the appearance of the add-ons to the power fist gauntlet he was wearing.

Veronica looked at the power fist equipped tribal and took a few seconds for her to realize who it was. Once that was done, she spoke up saying, "...And this must be 'Salt- Upon-Wounds'."

Aria made a weird face. "What kind of name is that?"

"Apparently, this guy was known to destroy any farm land he took over by placing salt over the crops. Which in turn, he also does to anyone he fights...or something like that. It has to due with him being the chief of a tribe called the 'White Legs'." Veronica tried to explain.

"What does he have to do with Kyle, though?" Aria asked.

"Because the man we know as Kyle ended up helping a group of traders make a journey to this place where he ran into the White Legs after they attacked him and the traders. After helping out two other tribes in the area, they attacked the White Legs. But Kyle ended up sparing this guy." Veronica retorted with.

Aria looked back at the fight. "...Looks like that might not be an option here…"

* * *

The moment Kyle's door opened, his opponent charged forward to attack with the power fist. Kyle ended up dodging out of the way and made sure to be ready to block.

The chief quickly tried to attack again, but got blocked by the ballistic fist. Kyle responded by performing Veronica's Scribe Counter, which was using his other hand to punch Salt-Upon-Wounds' face.

The hit allowed for a follow up and Kyle punched again, this time with the ballistic fist. The barrels went off after the hit connected, doing a lot of damage to the chief. However, Salt-Upon-Wounds was able to attack back.

The opponent was able to land two solid torso punches on Kyle and was about to land a third when Kyle ended up using his magnum. The shot was aimed at the chief's torso and made the punch end up missing.

Kyle finished the fight by quickly firing 5 more times into Salt-Upon-Wounds and the chief ended up collapsing face first to the floor.

"I was merciful the first time...But not this time, 'Dirt-Placed-Graves.'" The Courier admitted as he took a second to catch his breath from the pain he was feeling.

Salt-Upon-Wounds vanished into thin air shortly after that and Kyle made sure to grab the card that appeared. Kyle quickly replaced his two weapons for his hunting shotgun...and moved onward after the pain started to subside.

Aria stayed for a moment longer: Kyle didn't leave this battle unscathed, and that meant he wasn't going into the next battle at full capability...and who KNOWS who Kyle will be facing next? She then began to follow the others...hoping Kyle made it...

* * *

The final observational room was filled up with the spectators as they entered. The last arena room had yet another man inside it already. The individual in question was wearing a duster without sleeves and had his lower part of the face obscured by a gas mask. In his hands was a Anti-Material Rifle and on his back was some wooden pole with a gold bird on the end.

The former scribe just stared at the man past the glass view...struggling to remember if her Mojave friend encountered this mysterious man.

"...Do you...happen to know who this is?" Aria asked.

Veronica remained silent until she said, "... I think this may be the one and only 'Ulysses"."

"Ulysses?" Aria asked.

"It's hard to explain...Kyle didn't tell me very much about Ulysses, save for the name and one other thing." Veronica noted.

"And what was that?" Aria asked.

"They were going to fight...and Kyle was actually nervous about fighting Ulysses...except they ended up never fighting each other at all...till now." Veronica worryingly said.

"Meaning...we know NOTHING of what he could do?" Aria asked, worriedly...

"And the only thing we CAN do is watch from this glass window...Unless…" Veronica exclaimed as she pulled out her sledgehammer off its holster and slammed it into the glass.

The glass didn't move an inch or break into pieces...in fact all it really did was make noise in the room. Left with the only option available, the two onlookers anxiously waited for the fight to start.

* * *

Kyle entered the room, still clutching the shotgun in his hands as he looks at his last opponent.

The two couriers remained silent, staring each other down.

"...So...here we are again, Courier Six…" Ulysses stated.

"Our roads crossed each other again...despite the fact I never wanted that to happen again." Kyle said back.

Ulysses then replied, "Indeed they have…I believe...no words are needed for what we are about to do…"

"Then I guess our actions will do the work for us…" Kyle said.

"Indeed.." Ulysses replied.

Kyle started the fight by firing with his shotgun. The buckshot was flying towards the target till he moved out of the way and fired back. The large caliber bullet soared through the air and was dodged by Kyle.

They went on for a bit of exchanging gunfire until Ulysses shot Kyle's shotgun out of his hands, but not before Kyle did the same with Ulysses' rifle. With their guns on the ground, they swapped over to their melee weapon of choice.

The sword clashed against the old flagpole as they tried to hit their opponent. Kyle was on the defensive as Ulysses kept attacking. Each block of a attack took a bit longer to perform, allowing Ulysses to get the advantage.

Using it, he kicked Kyle in the stomach before slamming down the metal bird into Kyle's chest. Ulysses continued attacking the same spot until Kyle dodged out of the way. Then he headbutted Ulysses after blocking a attack with his sword.

The sword slashed as Kyle directed it on his opponent's body. Each hit was allowing for another one...and Kyle ended the barrage by forcing the sword into Ulysses' torso. The weapon Ulysses was carrying fell to the ground...and the man was still standing.

Kyle broke the silence by saying, "You reached the end of your road, Ulysses." before he forced the sword back out and bash Ulysses in the face with its grip.

Ulysses ended up on his back, as he shut his eyes for the last time. Soon, his body was replaced by the card that took his spot on the ground.

Kyle went to pick up the card, getting stopped by the immense pain his gut was feeling. Pushing through it, he collected the card and pocketed it. The door ahead finally opened, meaning the trials were over. He took a while to store away his weapons, but accomplished it none the less before continuing onward.

* * *

The pathway to the next door felt short due to Kyle rushing through it instead of taking it slow. Once he was inside the 'Prize' room, Kyle noticed two items on the table in the middle of the room.

One was a fully modified laser rifle that had three beam focusers constructed to the base of the weapon. The other item in question was a blue-ish power fist gauntlet.

Kyle felt his eyes getting heavy...and other parts of his body as well. He lifted his arm with the Pipboy and found the item he wanted to get out. After that, Kyle held onto it as he used his other hand to open the last door in his way. All the while thinking of one thing...

As the last door unlocked itself, Kyle held up the hand carrying the bottle cap ring, allowing it to be seen. Once the door was open, Aria could be seen on the other side, still with a look of worry… until she saw the ring.

"It's...about...time I...finally say it...I love you, Aria… …-" The Courier admitted, stopping as his body finally gave out. The ring falling to the ground as he collapsed, not moving.

Aria gasped. "KYLE!" She then rushed over to him.

His eyes remained shut...and the last thing he ended up hearing was...a female voice calling out for help. Then came the empty darkness...

End Chapter 19.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back.***

 **Kyle: *Is at a loss for words as he remains silent.***

 **Aria: *also silent***

 **Kyle: *Takes a deep breath before saying, "... ...That could have gone better...but It's true...I do love you, Aria."***

 **Aria: *looks at Kyle...before smiling widely* "Kyle...I...I lo-"**

* * *

 ***A loud snap-like sound comes from the direction of the wooden door into the room. As the two look, a ludicrously speeding bowling ball is seen on camera heading towards Kyle.***

 ***It ends up hitting him so hard in the gut, the force sends him flying towards a wall very hard.***

 ***Kyle ends up slumping forward enough that he collapses with his face to the ground as the wall shows how deep he went in...like half a foot deep.***

 **Aria: *eyes wide open* "KYLE!" *looks back where the bowling ball came from***

 ***M3 quickly runs into the room, grabbing the camera and taking it with him as he bolts from the room.***

 ***The camera catches as Aria is seen showing a mixed look somewhere between anguished and furious as she advanced towards the door.***

 ***It also catches the Wastelanders looking at her, especially the three of them holding a modified 'Fatman' launcher with a bowling ball on it. The three in question were Travis, Leon, and Veronica.***

 ***They had their hands over the trigger as they looked back at Aria...Their eyes widen in fear.***

* * *

 ***M3 rushed past them and Cait, who just yelled, "RUN!", before joining M3 in fleeing.***

 ***The three wastelanders chuck the weapon and bolt as well.***

 ***The group just narrowly missed a Thoron bolt***

 **Leon: *Looking back and quickly regretting it as he yells, "WHERE DOES SHE KEEP GETTING THOSE THINGS FROM?***

 **M3: *Struggling to hold the camera steady as he yells back, "WE GOT A BOOKSHELF FILLED WITH THEM AND OTHER VARIATIONS! I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA!"***

 ***Aria fires another Thoron Bolt at them***

 **Cait: "LOOK OUT!"**

* * *

 ***Meanwhile***

 **Aria: *Continues chasing, until she sees Dark Prelate Mitchell* "Listen, no time, Studio Room: Kyle needs help. No time: gotta deal with the people who injured him…"**

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *watches her go* "...Ok… … ...Wait...Injured Kyle?" *runs off towards the Studio Room***

 ***Back to the chase***

 ***M3 sees Gene ahead of him, passes the camera over to him as he quickly says, "Return this to the studio room immediately." before passing by.***

 ***Gene awkwardly grabs the camera as the Wastelanders run by, followed by Aria running by.***

 ***The camera catches M3 and the Wastelanders just as they were going to reach a corner.***

 ***M3 trips and the Wastelanders behind him end up crashing into him, ending their attempt to escape.***

 ***Gene ends up running towards the Studio room as the camera catches Aria charging up another bolt at the group before Gene turns the camera around.***

* * *

 ***Gene enters the studio room and places the camera back in its original position.***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *is checking Kyle over* "...Not good...gonna need to get him to the infirmary...gonna have to contact Connor…the Connor I joined this place with anyways..." *begins telepathically signalling ZS Connor***

 ***Gene leaves as ZS Connor sprints into the room saying, "I'm here, what do I need to do?"***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *gestures to Kyle* "Need to get him to the infirmary…"**

 **ZS Connor: "Then I'll carry his head and shoulders, you get his legs...and be careful as we carry him over."**

 ***The two carefully pick up Kyle and make their way towards the door, which they take a moment to turn into the hallway.***

 ***Soon, Aria returned, and she moved to help get Kyle to the Infirmary by keeping anyone in the halls out of the way…***

 ***The camera turns off by itself.***

 **End Author's Notes**


	20. Chapter 20: Nuclear Supports IV

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***The camera shows Gene and Emperor Mitchell standing in front of the camera as one of them starts talking.***

 **Gene: "Hello, welcome back to this little commentating segment."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "We're replacing the originally-planned commentators since they're a bit...indisposed…"**

 **Gene: *Starts thinking about something before saying, "...And till they recover, it's our show. Speaking of which, my co-commentator is not a 'interesting' person at all."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "...Excuse me?"**

 **Gene: *Deliberate in pushing buttons.* "I mean, what have you accomplished so far in your life? From what I heard...not very much beyond establishing a hole in the ground."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "More than just THAT...that's just the capital…"**

 **Gene: *Keeps going. * "No, that's just all you have. The 'version' of you that also runs this studio has more than you ever will."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "And how would YOU know?!"**

 **Gene: "I know...Because I'm an employee. You, on the other hand are just a resident."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "Did you even pay ATTENTION to Guardians of the Multiverse? If you DID, you'd see that Corrin has a whole March under her control in the Imperium, and that the Dragonborn has his own County…Each with various settlements...so NO, the Underground City is NOT all I have...I still control a wide variety of settlements, even OUTSIDE their territories..."**

 **Gene: "Then what about your allies to Avalon, what about them? Do you plan on betraying them at some point and add them to your territories?"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *offended* "HELL! NO! What on EARTH would make you BELIEVE I'd CONSIDER THAT?!"**

* * *

 **Gene: *Has no thought of stop pushing buttons.* "Then why are you working with Amaris? The only reason I see is that you plan to betray her at the end, that's why you earned her trust."**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *looks a bit upset at the accusation* "That is DEFINITELY NOT going to happen!"**

 **Gene: "And I think it WILL happen because that's the only way it will go. *Starts snickering. ***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "No it's not!"**

 **Gene: "You can deny it all you want, I know it's true and you just can't accept it.**

 **Emperor Mitchell: *cries* "IT'S NOT! It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not!"**

 **Gene: "The only thing you will accomplish is betraying her...and you'll never know what happens till you admit it.***

 **Emperor Mitchell: *now sputtering***

 ***knocking on the door occurs, and the door slowly creaks open***

 **Amaris: "Hello? I heard Daniel shout...what ha-" *sees Emperor Mitchell crying and Gene's smug expression* "...What did you do…" *enters the room, getting increasingly angry* "WHAT did you DO?!" *pale flames gather in her hands***

 **Gene: *Casually grabs the nearest fire extinguisher, trying to exhaust the fires before saying, "Just a little conversation about nothing."**

 **Amaris: *smirks...as the Fires don't go out* "Moonlight Bale-Fires...not able to be extinguished by mundane means...only by the will of their caster...Think of it as the albino, more well-behaved sibling of that 'Fiendfyre' stuff from that one book series of wizards and stuff…" *smirk goes away* "And the question was rhetorical...I have an idea of what happened here…You upset him...so I'm gonna pay you back...and I'm gonna TAKE! MY! TIME!"**

 **Gene: *Still smugly smiling as he says, "Good luck accomplishing that!"***

 ***Gene pushes a button on his watch and disappears...only to return in the exact same spot. His smug smile going away in a heartbeat.***

 **Amaris: *looks at him, before pressing a button on the Camera***

 ***Chapter 20 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Nuclear Supports IV**

 **A few hours later, outside the Medical tent…**

In a case where the roles were swapped, Aria was now the one being worried about what happened inside the tent. The medical team had to rush back to camp to keep Kyle going.

The damage done to his torso caused internal bleeding, which meant more work had to be done to treat it. There was also the problem of cleaning the small traces of some kind of poison that had the color of white salt on his armor.

All that went on as Aria waited for them to be done and to deliver good news. Her mind focusing on what happened after the trials were over.

She had to have been deaf to not hear what Kyle admitted after finishing the trials...and after hearing that, combined with her own feelings, and because of what happened to him… … ...it felt like someone was trying to tear her heart out, knowing he was like that right now.

Then there was the ring...a ring made from one of those Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Caps...Aria had a sneaking suspicion that's what Kyle needed her cap for...She'd grabbed it soon after Kyle fell unconscious and the others started to carry him back to camp. Not a five minute interval had passed since that she didn't look at the thing...the proof that what Kyle had said was true...was real…

The nearby tent entrance started making as the medical team left, one by one starting with the Shepherds involved till it ended with Travis being the last one to leave. He was just about to look for Aria, who approached the Wasteland medic as soon as she saw him.

"Didn't expect to find you here already...DId you wait out here ever since we got back?" Travis asked Aria.

Aria looked down, before nodding.

"I can tell you're worried about him, but he's doing way better now. I...just got done talking to him. You can head in..." Travis tried to say, not noticing that Aria already went inside as soon he looked away for a few seconds.

He went back into the medical tent, already spotting Aria by Kyle's side. The Courier still had his eyes closed, but because he was trying to get some rest.

Making his way over to Aria, Travis whispered, "I was going to say he needs to rest for a while...but if you need to talk to him, feel free to."

Aria just nodded in reply.

Travis departed after he was done talking, leaving the Tactician alone with the Courier.

* * *

Aria said, quietly, "Kyle?"

Kyle slowly opened his eyes, waiting for his eyes to get back to work. As his vision became more clear, he was able to see Aria.

"Is this heaven or am I hallucinating?" Kyle said as he looked at Aria.

Aria just sighed with relief and shook her head. "I'm actually here…" she replied, "Welcome back to the land of the living…"

"Except I'm sure I didn't die...Then again, I'm just hard to kill." Kyle joked. "And...I did say we see each other again."

Aria smiled. "Yeah...you did…"

The Courier tried to move off the bed, but only was able to sit up due to the leftover pain in his torso. Once the pain went back down, Kyle asked, "Did I end up dropping the ring after I collapsed?"

Aria showed Kyle the trinket in question. "Yeah, you kind of did…" Aria replied.

"Well...I need it back one more time...To do it right for real." Kyle noted as he held one of his hands.

Aria looked at the hand for a moment, before handing the ring over.

As soon as the ring was in Kyle's hand, the Courier searched through his Pipboy menus to find the radio function.

He found the radio signal and the song he was hoping that would be playing was on. The song in question was _"Where Have You Been All My Life?"._

The lyrics went on as Kyle waited for the break in the song, taking a moment to show the ring as the break stopped. That is when he started singing along with the remainder of the song till it ended.

"I truly love you from the 'bottle' of my heart, Aria...I want to be with you till the end." Kyle proposed as he stared lovingly at Aria, ring in hand.

Aria chuckled. "...This is kinda cheesy, you have to admit...it's sweet...but cheesy…" Aria stated, greatly amused with how Kyle's proposing. "But really...I love you, too…I love you a lot..."

"Then take this 'Cap'tivating' ring from my hand, it's yours after all…" Kyle said, intending to use wordplay one more time.

Aria laughed a little, while accepting the ring.

Kyle smiled for a while till he ended up saying, "Now, I hate to cut this lovely moment between us...but I really need to rest...the pain is coming back."

Aria nodded. "Oh, yes...of course…" She then turned to leave. "See you late, Kyle… … …"

Kyle just quickly said, "See you later, Aria." before he got back to rest and recover.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

With the latest patent on the road to full recovery, the exhaustive efforts took their toll on the Wastelanders' medical expert. He headed straight for his bed, hoping to get some well earned rest.

Travis returned to his tent to find the Irish Wastelander already inside. She was searching through one of the many junk piles when they finally noticed each other.

"Need any help finding anything, Cait?" Travis asked as he waited for a response.

"No, I just about found what I was looking for...Don't need any help right now..." Cait responded back, albeit a bit suspiciously.

Travis accepted the response for now and saw the items near her. Outside of the pile, Cait had a few bits of scrap metal and at least two round broken lamps. They were picked up after she pulled out of the pile two non-broken lightbulbs in semi-decent condition.

She started carrying them off, having no trouble at all until she crossed Travis' gaze with her own eyes. Cait stopped to look at him for a bit before she noticed he was doing the same.

This continued till Cait ended up saying, "You mind quitting staring at me? It's...distracting me." with a bit of redness on her cheeks showing as she said that.

Travis responded back with, "...Sorry, I...Look just get going, I need to get some shut eye."

Cait ended up passing by Travis and exiting the tent with the items still in hand. The Wasteland Medic immediately moved towards the mattress and just flopped right down on it.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Inside the tent belonging to the former scribe, Leon could be seen holding down the jumbled-together radio as Veronica was inserting parts into the machine. Once she was done, she flipped a switch on one side and waited for Leon to test out the communication line.

"Testing….Testing...1,2,3." was what he said to a carefully constructed mess of a wired receiver that was in his hands in front of his face.

A few brief moments of loud static could be heard from the radio box. It stopped and started again multiple times until Leon left the tent with the receiver and talked again, stretching out the wire to its maximum distance.

"Attention...Attention...Mirelurks have just reached dry land...I repeat, Mirelurks have just reached dry land." came from outside the tent from Leon.

The radio on the table was still a bit noisy until it played back out, "Attention...Mirelurks...dry land...I repeat… just reached..."

Veronica called Leon to head back in and once the receiver was back in the tent, the static started getting loud again. After Veronica turn the radio box off, the former scribe had a odd mix of looking glad and confused.

"The proximity of the receiver is affecting the system's performance...There has to be a way to stop the static interference…" Veronica mumbled to herself as she checked her notes.

Leon just answered back with, "Sounds like you need to switch the AM frequency to the FM frequency. And if that doesn't work, set both to the military standard radio frequency." as he looked at the receiver and radio.

Veronica placed down her notes and followed Leon's suggestion. After a bit of adjustments, the receiver was tested again inside the tent, leading to the message partway getting through with no static interference.

Once the testing was over, Veronica was getting excited at the progress they were making, but felt like it was time to unwind. An idea quickly formed and the former scribe asked her collaborator one question.

"Leon, what is your opinion about boxing?" Veronica quickly asked.

Leon took a few seconds to respond with, "Uh...I...guess I like the idea of it...But why-"

"Meet me back here tomorrow. I need some help getting things set up." The former scribe noted before getting lost in her notes again.

A confused Leon left after some time, leaving the Mojave Wastelander to design two sets of boxing gloves. She got the construction notes and details listed and now had to go get the materials from Travis' tent.

* * *

 **A minute or two later…**

Veronica pushed open the tent entrance and said aloud, "Are you in here, Travis?"

A few mumbles were heard and the response that came back was, "What do you want, Veronica? I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm here to get materials for another project...You got any spare sets of raw cloth?" Veronica said back.

It took a bit of time before Travis showed up in front of Veronica. He was fully awake and carrying several small wraps of cloth in his hands.

He handed the materials over, turned around and went back to his bed, falling face first into his bed. Veronica was just about say something on her mind when Travis just uttered a quick, "You can go now."

Veronica did as Travis said and left, satisfied that she had the materials to get the boxing equipment made. The process got started once she returned back to her own tent.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

The wandering Leon was walking around the camp, seeing how everyone else was doing. Some of the Shepherds were training by sparring off with wooden weapons, others were chatting with their friends, and a few were just minding their own business.

At some point, Leon crossed paths with Cait, who didn't have the lamps and lightbulbs in her hands. Instead, the items she was carrying was a triple-barreled laser rifle and a blue power fist…

The Irish Wastelander kept going further away until Leon realized that she was carrying off the weapons that Kyle "won" from the trials. That moment led to Leon to start running towards Cait and stop her if she was stealing the equipment.

Cait just looked back to see Leon running towards her and the instincts of fight or flight kicked in. She picked up her pace and started running to get away from Leon.

With Cait now on the run, Leon followed and yelled out, "CAIT, YOU BETTER STOP RUNNING AND GIVE BACK THE STUFF YOU STOLE!"

"I DIDN'T STEAL IT, LEON!" Cait yelled back as she kept running.

The two of them ran around the camp, interrupting a lot of conversations as Cait ran by with Leon tailing her. Word quickly spread around the camp that this chase was going on, leading to a lot of onlookers watching this happen.

By the time the two had looped around the camp, Cait was running away from the Wastelander section of the camp. She was going to try losing Leon by hiding in a tent once she was out of his vision.

Cait started sprinting and went in between the tents and quickly maneuvered around till she left that space and hid inside the nearest tent entrance to her. The tent flap stopped moving while Cait held her breath, keeping quiet.

Once she heard Leon pass by and complain about having lost her, Cait was going to take a second to see where she ended up. The fact that she was smiling was a sign for herself that she was currently in the clear...

Until a nearby voice rang out into her ears, which made that smile go away as the redhead turned around.

"Oh, hello Cait," Aria said, in a happy tone, "Say, what're you do-...are those Kyle's Trial Prizes?" Once she noticed the items in Cait's hands, Aria's mood seemed to sour just ever so slightly.

* * *

Cait initially remained silent as she basically thought that her luck was terrible. Her response quickly tried to change things around...hopefully.

"Yeah...these are the prizes. I was just heading here to drop them off so you can give them to Kyle." Cait said, in a rather convincing tone.

"I thought they were supposed to be in the storage tent," Aria commented.

Cait just responded back with, "Again, yeah...But...I wanted to be nice and get them over here...Since Kyle does spend more time over here lately."

"Oh, right…of course..." Aria replied, trying to hide a light blush.

"So, I'm just going to drop these off and head off." Cait initially said. Then under her breath, " _Before Leon shows up…"_

Cait placed the rifle and gauntlet on the table and was just about to leave…

"Sorry for barging in, I'm looking for Cait…" Leon tried to say as he entered and spotted Cait.

Cait quickly tried to look innocent as Leon looked at Aria and finished saying, "...I was chasing her till she got out of my sights. I believe she was planning to steal those items."

Cait's innocent act quickly faded away and was replaced with a bit of anger as she approached Leon.

"Great...Just when things were going nice and calm. And by the way, I'll have a word with you once I get done talking to Aria again." Cait said in a annoyed tone before pushing Leon outside.

With Leon currently not in view, Cait changed her focus to Aria.

Aria's expression appeared to have soured further. "...The truth, this time…"

"Fine, you want the truth, you get it. Yes, I was planning to steal these prizes. But I changed my mind and was going to drop them off with you...Until Leon thought I was actually stealing them when I walked by him." Cait honestly said in a more annoyed tone.

"Then why were you running if you'd changed your mind on stealing them?" Aria asked.

"Maybe because when you spent 5 years of your life pickpocketing anything you can get to buy your freedom from the slavers, you learn that being fast on your feet keeps you alive when they catch on. That instinct, or reflex, or whatever you call it is hard to stop after you get used to doing it. That's why I ran." Cait answered back, this time in a very bitter tone.

"... … ...I see…" Aria replied, thinking. "So...you REALLY DID plan on just dropping them off here?"

"For the last time, YES!" Cait said out loud, especially on that last part.

"Ok, ok...just making sure…" Aria replied.

"Now if you excuse me, I need to fill Leon in on my side of the story." Cait said in a bitter tone, before heading out.

The moment Cait was outside, she could be heard yelling Leon down about what he was doing. It went on for a while, which ended after Cait finally stopped talking.

Leon poked his head back in and offered an apology on both his and Cait's behalf before leaving for good.

* * *

As Leon left, Aria did note what Cait said, and began to realize that the way Cait acts probably has to do with her past. She seemed to have become used to living in a lifestyle of self-interest, yet she seemed to be trying to get away from it…

That thought about Cait was eventually pushed away and replaced with the items she dropped off. The blue-colored Power Fist...a Saturnite Fist, if Aria overheard properly...was particularly interesting to her...Maybe Kyle could teach her how to use it…

End Chapter 20

* * *

 ***Camera switches back.***

 ***It catches Gene running out of the room with his suit jacket on fire, with Amaris following him with those pale fires in her hands. Also, near where they where standing is various pieces of a fire extinguisher, scattered across the ground.***

 ***Eventually, GotM Connor shows up, wondering what happened.***

 **Connor: "Uh...Why did I see Gene and Amaris leave here...with fire on both of them? Did something happen?"**

 **Emperor Mitchell: "... … …"**

 **Connor: *Steps inside the room asking, "You okay, man?"***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "...That bastard...there's NO way I plan on betraying her...he's wrong!"**

 **Connor: *Catches on what probably happened, "I take it that Gene was saying something about you and Amaris."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "He claimed I was planning on betraying her or something, and that's the only reason why I'd work with her...but he's WRONG! I work with her because...because I care about her, OK?!"**

 **Connor: "... ...Uh...Look, Gene...Dang, I don't know what to say at this moment."**

 ***A bit of dead air goes till Connor talks again.***

* * *

 **Connor: *Looks at the camera before saying, "By the way, I think you need a new co-commentator since he ain't here right now."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: "...Yeah...right…"**

 **Connor: *Glances at Emp Mitchell before saying,"I'll fill in his spot...but, you want to take a break first?"***

 **Emperor Mitchell: *nods***

 **Connor: "Good...Let's take a break then. *Heads to the camera and turns it off.**

 **End Author's Notes.**


	21. Chapter 21: Mojave Disturbance

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***The people in front of the camera is still GotM Connor and Emperor Mitchell. They both look ready to commentate…***

 ***And then the door opens, with Kyle and Aria stepping in.***

 **Kyle: "Sorry for kicking you guys out, but Triple M told us to get back to commentating."**

 **Connor: *Looks at Emperor Mitchell, "Want to get something to eat? I'm paying."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: *still upset but not as upset as before* "...Alright…"**

 **Aria: *confused* "What happened with him? He was fine earlier, last I knew…"**

 **Connor: *Sighing out loud, "You'll know sooner or later… C'mon, let's leave already."***

 **Emperor Mitchell: *nods***

 ***The two depart.***

* * *

 **Kyle: *Looks at Aria.* "You didn't have to...you know, attack Cait or Triple M...or Leon, Travis, and Veronica."**

 **Aria: "...I know...It's just...seeing you get hurt like that...especially so soon after READING you getting hurt...something just...snapped…"**

 **Kyle: "At the very least we got a good infirmary inside the studio."**

 **Aria: "I'm glad about that…So...we ready to read this chapter?"**

 **Kyle: "Yeah...I'm ready."**

 ***Kyle switches the camera view by using the nearby terminal.***

 ***Chapter loading…***

 ***Loading...Loading…**

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 21 Starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Mojave Disturbance**

 **A few days later…**

The Einherjar cards that Kyle had on him were given to Old Hubba, in addition to the receiver that Veronica and Leon were working on. They explained to the old man how to use it and to signal out for help.

Till more Einherjars showed up, the group had to depart from the island and get back to tracking down any remaining allies from Lucina's future. Once the group was back on one of the bigger chunks of land on the map, the search was back on.

In the days since then, the camp was on good spirits and it reflected in the vibe of the camp's atmosphere.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, inside Aria's tent…**

Aria was out of her tent searching for a few books that were placed in the storage tent, while Kyle was left alone as he read the copy of the "Wasteland Survival Guide" in his hands.

The page he was reading was about how to treat radiation from an expert that irradiated himself and goes on in detail about how to treat it. A few pages later, the guide's expert was talking about robots. Everything from how to start them up to fixing them was covered.

Kyle was just about to start reading about how to deal with mutated Wasteland animals when Aria returned from her book search.

Once she stored away the books for later, the Tactician took an interest in asking what Kyle was reading.

"...Wasteland Survival Guide?" she asked, getting a look at the cover.

"It's a handy guide on how to survive in the nuclear wasteland...It's very popular for a good reason...beyond the fact it's hard to get a copy back where I'm from." Kyle answered back as he tried to keep reading.

Aria nodded...before deciding to look over his shoulder. "...So...these are the creatures you face in the Wasteland? Some of them, I mean?"

"Well...I don't know about this particular one...It's called a Mirelurk. I don't recall ever finding one out in the Mojave." Kyle said as he pointed at a very detailed sketch of a Mirelurk.

Surrounding the sketch on the Mirelurk was plenty of notes about its biology, weak points, and behavior. That last detail had "ALWAYS AGGRESSIVE, SHOOT ON SIGHT!"

"...Whoever wrote this must HATE Mirelurks.." Aria commented.

"Speaking of which, I never really did check out who wrote this...I vaguely remember the author's name in the first page. I'll check it right now." Kyle noted before flipping to the first page.

The page just had two sections to it. The first was the name of the author, which was " _Moira Brown_ ". The other section just had some part say " _This is in dedication to the one assistant that helped make this guide possible, Leon Scott._ "

"I get the feeling Moira wasn't-" Kyle tried to say before he interrupted himself by reading the assistant's name again.

"...Leon Scott...isn't that… … …?" Aria began, but couldn't finish.

"... … ...No...That's Leon Scott, the same Leon we know." Kyle said as he looked through the pages beyond the first.

The two continued to look through each page, now with the knowledge the expert's notes were Leon's observations. Once they reached the end, they were stunned about how much he contributed to the guide.

"Wow...I can't believe he actually jumped off a railing and broke both of his legs to go in detail about how to fix them." Kyle noted as he imagined how that happened.

"And then you have him detailing how to find food, water, and medicine...and dealing with a large band of raiders… … ...I...I have no words…" Aria replied.

Kyle closed the guide and just said, "You learn something new each day." before storing it away and pulling out a Boxing Times magazine.

Aria nodded. "Yeah…"

* * *

Kyle put his magazine down and asked Aria, "Do you want to read something else? I got a spare Boxing Times if you want to read it."

"Remind me...what was that about again?" Aria asked.

"That one was about how boxers use their gloves to affect their punches, hooks, jabs, and anything else involving the hand in the sport." Kyle said as he got the spare magazine out and waited for Aria to take it.

"So...unarmed or glove-based combat, then?" Aria asked.

"Yeah...except not the 'battle for your life' kind of combat." Kyle answered back.

"I see… … …" Aria replied.

"Then again, most of the stuff in these magazines is surprisingly useful in teaching how to use "Power Fist" type of weapons...Say, is that Saturnite Fist still in the storage tent?" Kyle asked.

"Actually, Cait brought it and the other weapon here earlier," Aria replied, "… … ...Actually, I was kinda wondering about how useful the Saturnite Fist might be...I might want to try it out at some point…"

"Well, if you want to try it out, better get it out now so I can help you practice properly equipping it." Kyle said.

Aria smiled and went to grab the weapons Cait brought, before picking up the Saturnite Fist.

Once the gauntlet was brought over, Kyle began giving pointers and directions on how to equip it. After doing this a few times, Aria had the Saturnite Fist equipped on her right hand.

"Okay, I think we should find a practice dummy and start the actual combat training, if you want to, Aria." Kyle said.

"Of course," Aria replied, smiling.

* * *

 **A day later…**

A lead was given from a nearby village the group passed through. According to what the villagers said, there was a set of ruins that supposedly had treasure.

Willing to take a chance at finding at something valuable, the group headed north to find the ruins in question...surrounded by water.

And to add further complications, a large group of Risen could be seen on the platforms just barely reaching the surface of the water.

Thankfully, there was a shallow path that lead to the south west side of the ruins. After the group was finished getting across, they had to get ready to deal with the Risen before searching for the treasures.

Kyle and Aira paired up, followed by Travis and Cait, and Leon and Veronica. Dogmeat was by himself...not that he was worried about it. Once that was done, the gradual clearing of Risen began.

* * *

Heading off east, Kyle and Aria crossed the water by use of Aria's Pegasus to reach another series of platforms that weren't crawling with Risen.

Kyle hopped off and sticked to the ground while Aria followed along in the Air. They actually ran into a brigand that was there on his own to loot the place. The end result of that meeting resulted in a brigand getting punched into the water and he wasn't moving.

Moving on, they did find Risen to fight. Kyle used his shotgun to deal with the Risen that tried to close the distance and attack him. Meanwhile, Aria used her usual Thoron tome to strike at Risen.

At some point, they heard a gunshot ring out, but Kyle didn't fire the gun in his hands. Two more shots rang out, except this time they could tell it was coming from further ahead.

They assumed that it was either Leon or Travis due to the gunshots coming from a small gun, which both men did have. However, from what they saw when they got closer, it wasn't them.

Instead they found what looked to be a pair of a young guy and a young gal back to back fighting off Risen. The guy had armor akin to Kyle's NCR Ranger gear, but the duster was replaced with a cloak akin to the one Aria wears. The girl, meanwhile, had armor akin to Aria's but, with the cloak replaced with the NCR Ranger gear's duster.

Kyle immediately swapped over to his Gauss rifle and picked off a Risen that was about to strike the girl. Aria did the same to a Risen that was aiming for the guy, except with a Thoron blast. The Risen disappeared and the Tactician and Courier advanced towards the other duo.

The two turned to Aria and Kyle, and a smile broke out on their faces (or on the girl's, and they could assume it did on the guy's face due to their tone of voice).

The guy called out. "Mother!"

"Father!" the girl called out.

Kyle just stood their confused and his response was, "Did you call me father?" to the girl.

The girl smiled. "Of course...you ok father? And why do you look younger?"

"And you called me mother?" Aria asked the boy.

"Yeah...and Morgan's right: you DO look younger!" the boy replied.

"Uh...Morgan, is it? I hate to confuse you...but I'm 27. I'm been that way since I got here...and why are you calling me your father again?" Kyle answered back, clearly confused.

"Actually, think about it, Kyle...what's been happening to many of the other Shepherds? Who have we been on the lookout for… … ...Maybe they came from the future as well…" Aria commented.

The guy then commented, confused, "Come from the future? That's not possible. You're acting rather strange...let's head home, now where...Ngh! M-my head!"

Morgan then commented, "I don't remember...either…Gah, my head…"

Kyle snapped out of his confusion and tried to do something by saying, "Uh...you two need to think about something else...something more pleasant and familiar."

The words ended up doing nothing, so Kyle quickly ended up asking the boy, "If you can, think about your name instead...you have a name, right?"

"Uhm...yeah...it's Mark," the boy replied.

Kyle then turned to Morgan and just awkwardly said, "Morgan...calm down and don't worry about home right now, we need to deal with what's happening now first."

Kyle then turned to Aria and quickly told her, "By the way, I'm still not entirely convinced these two are our kids…"

"Well...look at them...they look a bit like us...not only with their armor, but their hair colors match ours...and...hmmm…" Aria stated before going into thought.

Kyle sighed before just saying, "Yeah...but that's not definitive proof. All of the future kids we meet so far have a keepsake from one of their parents."

Kyle turned back to Mark and Morgan and asked them, "Pardon, do either you have something we gave you before you met us here?"

"Oh! Of course!" Morgan replied, holding up her hand...revealing a worn version of the Bottlecap Ring Kyle proposed to Aria with.

Mark held up his own weapon, showing it to them. "Here's what I was given…" And said weapon was...a rusted version of Lucky, one of Kyle's guns.

Kyle admittedly was flabbergasted after he saw those items, but he didn't show that on his face. Instead, he just smiled and said, "Sorry for making you two worry, father's been worried about the enemy me and your mother were fighting before we found you two."

Kyle quickly added, "Morgan, why don't you stick with me for the time being and let Mark go with Aria?"

Morgan smiled. "Alright, let's go...and maybe you can explain what's going on here…"

Aria turned to Mark. "You ready to go? I could probably explain to you what's going on here as well…"

Mark smiled. "Alright, mother: let's get going!"

The pairs split up and continued on their way forward with Kyle making sure to keep Morgan safe, while Aria did the same for Mark.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

On the other side of the battlefield to the west, the other Wastelanders were dealing with a large advancement of Risen heading towards them. Travis, Cait, Leon, and Veronica, picked them off with their gun of choice held in their hands.

Veronica was using the Tri-Beam laser rifle (Given to her by Kyle to help her to provide a ranged way to attack), Cait with her double barreled shotgun, Leon with his hunting rifle, and Travis with the lever-action rifle.

The Risen continued to charge, even as some of them turned into red ashes, or got blasted into the water from the ballistic weapons. This continued on till the last Risen was also turned into red ashes before the defeated group gradually disappeared.

With the path clear, they advanced and were able to see Kyle fighting off Risen with a dark haired girl by his side. He was shooting Risen with his Ranger Sequoia, while the girl was casting fire magic at the others.

The odd thing they noticed was they had the same hair color, which was black...and they had similar looking dusters. Then the Wastelanders noticed Aria and a boy accompanying her.

Much like Kyle's case, the boy had a similar cloak to Aria's...and even the same hair color. At this point, they had their suspicions, but those were quickly pushed aside as they started firing upon more Risen.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, back on Kyle and Aria's side...**

The family pairs continued until they stopped to let Kyle look ahead to see if there was any threats further ahead. As Kyle scanned over the area ahead, he spotted a Risen Chief on a griffin.

Unfortunately, the Risen Chief also spotted Kyle, leading to it moving towards his location. Kyle quickly ordered Morgan and Mark to get their weapons ready and to fire on his command. Aria was already one step ahead as she charged up a Thoron blast.

As the Chief got closer and closer, it saw Mark and Morgan and just loudly said, " _Must kill...future...children._ " The moment Kyle heard those words, he gave the order to attack as he pulled the trigger on his Gauss rifle.

The Gauss projectile struck first hitting the torso, followed by the Thoron blast and Arcfire flame hitting the same area, and ended with a bullet getting lodged in its head. The combined damage did the Chief in as it dragged its flying ride down with it into the water before it vanished underneath the water.

The Chief being disposed off meant the remaining Risen (if there were any) vanished, leaving the ruins to be empty of threats. With the danger gone, the treasure hunt was on and the group scoured the ruins and platforms for anything valuable.

* * *

 **Some time later...**

Every possible nook and cranny was searched and the items they found were going to be sent back to camp to be brought into the organized listed inventory.

Kyle waited for Aria to get back from talking with Chrom as Mark and Morgan looked around seeing the other Shepherds. Then the Wastelanders got back from their own quick search and regrouped with Kyle.

However, that's when things took a stranger turn when Morgan and Mark saw Kyle's fellow Wastelanders.

The moment they saw Dogmeat, they ran over to the dog and started petting him. Dogmeat himself was a bit confused at what was going on...but he was being petted at the moment. He could care less if he knew these kids...even as Leon stared at him in confusion.

Actually, the other Wastelanders in addition to Leon were confused at what they were seeing. A long winded explanation was given from Kyle...and that just further confused the fellow Wastelanders.

Aria eventually returned and helped explain what was going on, getting the confusion to clear up as much as possible. Of course, the one thing that didn't get explained was how Mark and Morgan knew who Dogmeat was. But at that point, it was time to get moving back to camp.

* * *

Either way, Kyle and Aria headed back to camp...now with their own children from the future, unaware of their lives were going to change forever. And not to mention that Kyle is now part of a family of amnesiacs.

Of course, he'll still be there to help them on their path to regain their memories, every step of the way.

End Chapter 21.

* * *

 ***Camera switches back.***

 **Kyle: *Remains silent for a bit.* "...I...don't know what to say."**

 **Aria: "Well...I can certainly say this was interesting…"**

 **Kyle: *Seems like he does have something on his mind.* "I get the feeling either something pleasant or terrible will happen shortly…"**

 ***Kyle quickly moves out of the way...as nothing happens.***

 **Aria: "... … ...What're you doing?"**

 **Kyle: *A bit confused as he says, "Don't you feel something should be happening right about now?"***

 **Aria: *thinking* "...Oh! You mean the portals? Hmmm...now that you mention it… … ..."**

 **Kyle: *Thinking as well, "I recall portals showing up around the time we do these commentaries...I thought one was going to show up, so I moved out of the way in case something comes flying out of it."***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *runs into the room* "Overheard ya, and yeah, a Portal's showing up, but not in here...I just saw one appear outside a few minutes ago and spit a couple people out!"**

 **Kyle: "Wait…were you listening…Oh, never mind. Just grab the camera and bring it with you."**

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: *nods and does so***

* * *

 ***The camera gets brought outside and gets placed down. It sees two people already on the ground as Kyle, Aria, and DP Mitchell check to see who they are.***

 **Kyle: *A bit surprised as he says, "...No way…"***

 **Aria: "Thinking about it, given what we just read, it couldn't be anyone else…"**

 **Male!? and Fem!?: *begin waking up...then noticing who they were seeing* *Gasps* "Mother! Father!"**

 **Kyle: "Are you two alright?"**

 **Fem!?: "Yeah, we're fine, father!"**

 **Aria: "Mark, Morgan, how'd you get here? Was it those...portals?" *already knowing the answer***

 **Mark: "Portals? Yeah...it was some kind of portal…"**

 **Kyle: "Did you two walk into it, or did it show up and brought you here?"**

 **Morgan: "It just...showed up while we were walking and we ended up being brought here by it…"**

 **Kyle: *In a reassuring tone, "Well...you don't have to worry about the portal anymore...Mommy and Daddy are here to make sure you two are fine."***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: "I guess I'm the one who's gonna inform the two in charge around here of the new residents?"**

 **Mark and Morgan: *look at the Human Dark Prelate***

 **Mark: "...Who's he?"**

 **Kyle: *Struggling to come up with a simple explanation* "Uh...That's Mitchell...The 'Dark Prelate' one...He's an acquaintance of ours."***

 **Dark Prelate Mitchell: "...I'll just get going now…"**

* * *

 **Morgan: *once Dark Prelate Mitchell was gone* "...What do you mean the 'Dark Prelate' one? There can't be more than one of the same individual…"**

 **Kyle: *Clearly having trouble again with saying, "Yeah...Not here. This place...has different versions of the same person...somehow."**

 **Mark: "Wow...that's...actually pretty cool!"**

 **Morgan: "Yeah!"**

 **Kyle: *Whispers to Aria. "I didn't expect them to react like that...I thought it take them a while to believe what I said."***

 **Aria: *whispers back* "Well, you dealt with a lot of strange stuff, maybe the casualness towards such was passed on to them…"**

 **Kyle: *To Aria, "Well...we really should get these two back into the studio and see about getting them their own rooms if possible."***

 **Aria: "Agreed…"**

 **Morgan: *sees the camera* "Say...what's this?" *Gets a closer look as Mark notices***

 **Kyle: *Notices Morgan looking at the camera.* "Please don't touch that. That's a camera...and it costs a lot of money apparently."**

 **Morgan: *hops back* "Oh!"**

 **Kyle: *Heads to the camera* "Well...you can touch it, just be careful and make sure it doesn't fall onto the ground."**

 ***As Kyle is trying to turn off the camera, it falls off its tripod stand and land on its side. Kyle could be hearing mumbling as he places it back and turns it off.***

 **End Author's Notes**

* * *

 _ **Important Update V 1.1(6/3/17)**_

 **Great news for those who were expecting more FFNA. We got more chapters on the way since the technical issues are not a factor at this moment.**

 **-MarkMartinMagmaM3.**


	22. Chapter 22: Dark Psycho Shot

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***The area in front of the camera is empty. On either side within the camera's vision, there is also nothing to see except empty air and the wall of the room.***

 ***The camera starts to load up Chapter 22 of FFNA after two minutes pass.***

 ***Chapter Loading…***

 ***Loading...Loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 22 Starts***

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Dark Psycho Shot**

 **The next day...**

A sea of grey lay above in the sky, blocking out any sun it could. This made the early morning colder than what everyone in the camp experienced yesterday. It also didn't help that it started raining.

And by what constitutes as 'raining', it was not the small misty downpour. No, it was the really heavy rain that drench any poor soul outside from cover in 30 seconds.

The camp was prepared for that, as each tent was arranged in a way to make sure their occupants were protected by the fast sideways descending rain as the hours went on.

Of course, for two particular wastelanders, this was believed to be a warning for a far worse storm involving an invisible deadly wave of radiation to come down on the land.

Because in the Commonwealth, stormy weather usually meant that it was time to get indoors. For those who didn't. the radiation in the air would hit spots that were actually deemed clear of radiation.

Thankfully, these 'Rad storms' would clear up after time and the air would be safe again. Though, their frequent appearances meant that going out during one in progress without being protected would be a very foolish decision.

* * *

However, that wasn't the case here. A few more hours passed when the rain stopped and the sky was still grey.

Some of the people in the camp emerged from their tents to go on with duties or training. One person who did leave their tents was Leon, except his plan of action was to converse with someone else other than Dogmeat.

While Dogmeat got to sleep in Leon's bed, the man himself made a visit to Aria's tent hoping to find Kyle and chat with him.

Making sure to be courteous, Leon said, "Hey, is it alright if I enter? I want to talk about a few things if I can…" after pushing the tent flap open.

"Oh, alright," Aria replied.

Getting inside, Leon expected to find Kyle, but only found Aria by herself scanning over the Saturnite Fist and a 'Pugilism Illustrated' book.

"Uh...Where's Kyle?" Leon asked after looking around the tent.

"He's out training with Mark and Morgan...mainly to observe Mark's gunplay skills…" Aria replied.

"Oh...Well, I was actually hoping he was here. I was going to talk to him about if we need to make some rules about 'Chems' for the group." Leon admitted before he thought about heading out.

"...'Chems'?" Aria asked.

"Shorthand for paramedical and artificial stimulants that affect the human psychology and physiology by changing the cells inside to match the effect of the stimulant once injected or injected." Leon suddenly answered back.

"... … ...I only got part of that…" Aria replied.

"Sorry, I been getting used to talking with Veronica. Okay...Umm…'Chem' is a nickname for the substances inside these small containers or syringes. What they do is make someone feel different in a certain way that improves their performance. Like… ...Give me a sec to get them out." Leon clarified before pulling up his Pipboy.

After navigating the menu, Leon pulled out a few containers and syringes and laid them across the table before going over what each item was.

First was a small bottle that had 'Original Buffout' written on it. Leon explained that this chem was called Buffout. Its purpose was to make a person feel stronger, both in the attacking sense and defending sense.

'Med-X' was next, thought this came in a syringe, much like a stimpack. The point of this one was to act as a painkiller, which meant it dulled any harm inflicted on a person to a degree.

'Rad-X' didn't need to be explained because Aria told Leon she was already familiar with that one. Same for Rad-Away.

A small inhaler container was then shown. Its name was 'Jet' and the purpose behind it was to improve someone's reflexes for a short period of time. What followed was a tin box that had 'Mentats' written on it.

The inside of the box had the actual Mentats and Leon explained that their function was to shortly boost mental thinking and senses like hearing, seeing, and smelling.

Last item to explain was 'Psycho'. Leon showed the modified syringe setup holding said chem and elaborated that its purpose was to make the person using it to be more aggressive. This in turn, would make them focus on being more offensive and somehow do more damage.

"And just to wrap it up for now, there's more chems then what I've showed you. What their purpose is usually has to do with the name that goes with them...Out in the Wasteland." Leon noted.

Aria thought for a moment, before finally asking, "Why do I have a feeling there's some major drawbacks to all this?"

"That's because there are drawbacks...First of all, chems don't last forever. They will wear off over time if a person doesn't take more to extend their effect. Second, if you use chems...Your body may become dependent on whichever chem you used. This leads to the ugly conditions of 'Addiction' and 'Withdrawal'."

After elaborating those two concepts to Aria, Leon also went over the after effects of using the chems he showed. Each one had some pretty terrible after effects...Especially the ones for Jet and Psycho.

"...And remember what I said about Psycho making a person aggressive? It makes them so aggressive that they may become violent until it wear off." Leon pointed out.

"Really?" Aria questioned, "Then...why is it even used?"

"From what I heard and read about it, apparently it was used in the Pre-war days to make soldiers more effective in combat. Post-war or today in the Wasteland, it's mainly used by raiders to help them terrify anybody they can rob from." Leon said as his answer.

Aria sighed. "Of course they did," she replied, referring to the Pre-war world.

"Yeah… ...Knowing stuff like that makes me wonder how Pre-war society lasted as long as it did." Leon dryly retorted.

* * *

Leon wrapped up his spiel about chems, while also telling Aria that he plans to argue to Kyle about being very strict in their usage. For as great they can be, the risk of the Wastelanders or even Shepherds accidently using them would be too great.

And with that, he started storing away the chems as another person from outside asked if they could enter.

Aria told them they could, and the person moved the tent flap out of the way to enter.

It turned out to be Cait, who was focusing on Aria first, saying, "Kyle sent me over here to tell you that one of those brats...Morgan...I think, wants you to watch her train with one of those fancy books…'Elire' or something stupid name like that…"

"...You mean Elfire?" Aria began, before her eyes narrowed, "And that quote-unquote 'brat' just so happens to be my daughter...different timeline or not…"

"She may be your daughter, but she'll still be a brat to me...So, don't go asking me to keep an eye on her when you can't." Cait just said before she looked around to see Leon holding one set of Psycho.

Aria just glared at Cait...

Cait didn't even move an inch in response...All she did was stare at Leon before she just started getting angry.

"... … ...Put that thing away...Before I head over there and deck you for keeping that out." Cait just said suddenly in a tone of rising anger.

Leon hesitated before realizing what she was referring to...leading to Cait to make assumptions.

"I told you...No, wait….I see what's going on here. You're trying to sell that to Aria, when she's unaware of what it is." The look of anger just increased on Cait. "And here I thought you were a decent person...Well...I'm definitely going to deck you even harder for this."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Aria asked, "He was just finishing up with an overview of those 'chems' from your Wasteland, and the dangers behind them…Any chems here are being used as visual references..."

That managed to calm Cait down a bit, but she was still angry as she followed up with, "Well...If that's the case...You better make sure I don't see any chems lying around camp, Leon. Cause If I do, I know who to blame… ...And seriously, get that toxic junk out of my sight before I make you do it myself."

Leon quickly placed the Psycho away into his Pipboy and Cait continued to stare at Leon for a bit. She left shortly, but didn't make an effort to even apologize for snapping at Leon.

"Well...It's clear to me Cait hates chems...Especially Psycho…" Leon flatly said aloud.

Aria seemed to go into thought. "Hmmm…I wonder why…"

* * *

 **Two days later…**

The group went up north, to one of the most eastern regions on the map. The surrounding area they were walking in had snow on the ground, meaning it was going to be cold.

Eventually, their destination was up ahead...two decayed ruins that may have been part of a keep with a river in between the two before it diverts into two separate streams. There were wide stone bridges that allow travel over the river and splitted streams.

The little forest area the group was in at the moment allowed them to witness a bunch of bandits escorting some young woman. From the few who could what was being said among the bandits, they were planning to sell the girl...immediately identifying them as slavers…

Suffice to say, the Wastelanders, along with others, were disgusted by what was going to happen if they didn't intervene. So, the group quickly made it their goal to save the girl and take out the slaving bandits.

The pairs to work together in the effort to fight the slavers were the usual. Kyle with Aria and Veronica with Leon...Though there was the unusual team up of Dogmeat and Travis.

Travis didn't complain or say much because he was fine with working with a dog as his partner. The 'Dogmeat' he was familiar with gave him enough experience to be ready for whatever Leon's dog would do.

Mark and Morgan were also paired up with each other since they got used to each other's style of fighting during training.

Then there was Cait...Who wanted to be by herself for the time actuality, Aria suggested that Cait work with Travis...But Cait just ignored her.

* * *

With everyone ready, the group split themselves into two paths. One heading west to handle one set of keep ruins, while the other went north to search for the kidnapped girl. She was last seen heading up north by the slavers.

Cait was among the ones who went up, running past trees and snow covered ground as she kept out of sight from the slavers. She was able to note a lot of them were on horses, meaning there was an advantage she could use.

But despite the opportunity, she didn't use it and just fought off any slaver with either her double barrel or shocksword solely on them.

After zapping a brigand carrying a silver ax, his ride got spooked off by Cait as it ditched the man to the ground where he lay.

* * *

Travis and Dogmeat went north as well, but their pathway ended as they reached the point in the land where the river divided into two.

Dogmeat acted more like a spotter as he looked around barked when he saw a enemy. Travis, taking the accompanying role with a spotter, made sure to fire his Lever-Action Rifle at them.

A few griffons and pegasus riders tried to cross the river via the sky, but the flying creatures felt less heavy as their riders fell either into the cold water or the snowy, white ground below. His clip empty, Travis loaded in 5 more rounds as he used two to finish off a rider carrying a spear.

* * *

Leon and Veronica were with the group that went west. Leon, sporting his hunting rifle, picked off a few horse riding brigands. Veronica, using a ranged weapon instead of what she traditionally uses, shot down flying riders with either 1, 2, or 3 red beams.

At some point after clearing out 4 brigands, Leon asked, "So, how's the triple barrel laser going for you?"

"Just fine…Sometimes wish whoever made it didn't make the three beams shoot off in different directions." Veronica noted.

"How about I swap my Plasma Rifle for that? Its slower, but you don't have to worry about the beams not lining up."

"Sure, but if we need to swap back if I need the projectiles to be faster." Veronica pointed out.

The two swap weapons, as Leon gets reacquainted with the triple barrel of lasers and Veronica shoots down a griffon ride armed with a silver lance.

* * *

The rusty revolver fired off once, wounding a brigand due to being hit in the leg. Another round went off as it hit the torso, stopping the brigand as they fell to the ground.

Two rounds gone, four left. Two brigands on horses charged with silver lances in hand. One of them was just about to strike when their weapon was shot out of their hand. Another shot followed, hitting them in the head, knocking them to their back and then the snow.

The other lancer kept charging. The revolver was aimed for their weapon as the trigger was pulled…

And the bullet didn't fire. Instead it got jammed, leaving the gun welder unable to attack as they had to fix it.

The lancer was just about to strike...as a powerful blast of fire landed and altered the lancer's course. The attack missed and another blast of fire struck the brigand, burning their armor as they collapsed off their ride.

Mark looked towards his sister, thanked her for the help, and finished cleaning out the jammed round. He quickly reloaded the revolver using the technique Kyle taught him and had five more rounds to use.

The two kept going west, watching over the battlefield and attacking from range with their weapons.

* * *

Kyle and Aria also headed west, but these two made sure to get the attention of a few brigands. Using his trusty Ranger Sequoia, Kyle made sure to get three enemies to focus on him. Once he was sure, he used VATS to quickly aim for all three of them in their heads.

Three rounds went off quickly, with two of them getting defeated right away. The third (and luckiest of them) didn't get hit as Kyle missed. Using the spear in hand, they tossed the sharp weapon towards the Courier.

It was dodged as fired off two more rounds to this spear user and landed both shots. The second one was not needed, but it provided enough force to make the rider fall to back into the cold ground.

Aria, meanwhile, blasted at foes with her Thoron tome, striking from range. However, when some of her enemies got close, Aria had a surprise in store, one that packed a 'punch'...

Those enemies got a face full of Saturnite Fist, skulls caved in by the advanced Power Fist.

Once the current area was clear of enemies and Kyle picked off a few not so far away with his Ranger Sequoia, he swapped over to his Gauss rifle and made a wide scan of the surrounding area using the scope.

Out in the distance, Kyle saw Mark and Morgan in the middle of a fight before the two of them defeated their opponents quickly. Pulling back from the scope, his face just formed a small smile which Aria noticed.

Kyle looked to Aria, just saying, "Just saw Mark and Morgan fighting off in the distance...They work great as a team."

"Yeah, it would seem…" Aria replied.

"Morgan has your skill in using tomes effectively…"

"And Mark's skill with that revolver reminds me of a certain someone too…"

"You know, I'm proud of the fact they're our kids...I...just hope we 'were' and will be good parents for them." Kyle awkwardly said as a follow up.

"So do I…" Aria replied, nodding...before remembering something that made her frown a bit.

"Something bothering you, Aria?" Kyle asked straight away once he saw that. "Or do you need me to give a 10 caps for your thoughts?"

"I'm fine...it's just...earlier, when Cait came to deliver that message that I was needed, she called Morgan a 'brat'..."

"She may just not be used to being around so many people that are younger than her...Besides, Morgan is not a brat in my books." Kyle retorted.

"I guess...then there's the outburst with her and Leon…" Aria added, contemplative.

"There was an outburst? Huh, I never heard them saying something about it. What happened?"

"At the time, Leon was giving me an overview of the various Chems found in the Wasteland, and he had the containers for some of them as visual aids...When Cait saw the Psycho, she freaked out, accusing Leon of trying to sell it to me…Things got cleared up...I think...but it was still…hmmm..."

"You think there's some connection with Cait and Chems...but just can't come up with a solid answer?" Kyle more or less guessed based on what he heard.

"That's what I'm thinking…" Aria replied.

"Well, the only way you'll get a solid answer is from Cait herself. Though that in of itself depends if she is willing to talk to you about it…"

"Not likely…" Aria replied, "She DID go against my plan after all...she was supposed to team up with Travis…"

"Well… ...She MAY have a point. Your plans don't really account for my group of fellow Wastelanders." Kyle said on purpose.

Aria raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?"

"Technically, I could just leave you by yourself and take out every single breathing bandit left with my shotgun...Actually, I'm sure the other Wastelanders could do the same with their own weapons."

"Oh really?" Aria replied, in a slightly more threatening tone, now glaring at Kyle.

"You look really 'charming' when you look at me like that, Aria." Kyle joked. "But I'm just yanking your chain, your plans are superior to whatever my group would come up with."

Aria calmed down, although seemed more relieved than anything else. "Oh...well, thank you...Anyways...I don't think Cait would be willing to talk about things…"

"Yeah, it just depends on the person. Some would love to spend hours talking, others would just give you what they want you to know. Cait is definitely the latter...Just like one of my friends from back home."

Aria nodded...before something Kyle said caught Aria's attention. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah... but it's probably not the best time...to go into it now. I'll tell you... another time...about my friend." Kyle noted in a discomforted tone.

"...I see...very well then…" Aria replied, somewhat understanding.

The Courier quickly changed his mood to get back into being ready for the battle. Once done, Aria also did the same as the two kept their eyes out for more enemies.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

The Irish Wastelander found herself heading into the north-most section of the ruined keep. Turning into the nearby entrance through the high decaying walls, she found that young girl who was caught by the brigands.

The girl looked somewhat anemic, but at the same time had a figure that sorta resembles Cait's own figure. That is to say, a body that's more thin-ish, but enough there that she had some amount of strength to keep herself upright.

Provided the young woman actually made an effort to stand up straight instead of this more hunched, fearful kind of stance.

She had blonde hair, and wore clothing similar to what many of the Archers they've seen (except Virion) wore. Except she was missing the bow...In fact, it seemed like didn't even any weapons on her.

Cait sighed in her mind before approaching the young girl, saying, "As much as introductions are important, I don't have much time. Name's Cait, what is yours?"

"... ...Noire… Um...If...want my name." The young woman responded slowly.

"Look, if you're not up for fighting, I'll get you off this battlefield. But don't do anything stupid. Got it?" Cait quickly said in response.

"Yes...I...get what you mean…" Noire nervously stated.

Cait quickly checked around the area and found one of those steel made bows. Personally, she prefered using guns over the older stuff...Mainly because she wasn't interested in learning how to use it.

"Here...Found this laying around." Cait said as she handed the bow over to Noire.

Noire got a moment to test out the material of the bow before Cait headed off to make sure their exit was clear. Once alone, the young archer pulled out a personal item...Some kind of talisman.

And within moments...her expression turned manic. "BLOOD AND THUNDER! I AM THE FIRE AND FURY! ALL WHO DEFY ME WILL PERISH! REPENT, SCUM! REPENT THOUGH IT WILL SAVE YOU NOT! REPENT AND DESPAIR! BWAAA HA HA HA HA!" And then she turned her bow on a slaver that had come around the corner at that moment...striking him down with precision accuracy.

Returning from her quick scouting, Cait stopped for a sec as she saw the dead slaver with the arrow inside them. This didn't even faze her.

No...What did was the expression on Noire.

"...What's with you all of a sudden?" Cait asked, but assumed something was going on.

"This talisman that my mother wrought to steel the mewling heart of her coward daughter! In its strength, I found escape from grief and solitude!" Noire manically replied.

"That little keepsake did that? That's probably the biggest load of malarkey I heard in a long time…" Cait noted, sharing her disbelief. "And by the way, we got to get moving...Like now."

"Yes...let's make these scum pay for trying to capture me...BWAA HA HA HA HA!" Noire replied.

Cait didn't respond to that...as the two left the ruins.

* * *

The Commonwealth Wastelander was sure something was off about Noire. The archer was very savagical in her language when engaging the enemy. It also didn't help that Cait was getting outclassed by her due to skill in using that steel bow.

As time went on and a bridge got crossed to let the two find the other part of the ruined keep, they encountered the leader of these slavers further ahead, unaware of them at the moment.

Cait was just about to turn to Noire to come up with an coordinated attack...When she saw that Noire wasn't there. Looking back towards the leader on horseback, she saw Noire charging forth with the bow ready.

The leader was able to notice the archer before getting hit with an arrow...and another one...and another. After the last arrow hit, the slaver leader collapsed to the ground as his steed ran off.

Cait bolted over and just yelled out, "Seriously, what is wrong with you?! I told you not to do anything stupid. Yet there you were being overaggressive instead of thinking for a moment if things can go wrong...And don't tell me it's all because of that little worthless piece of junk."

"INSOLENCE! THIS TALISMAN WAS WEAVED THROUGH CURSES AND MAGIC BY MY VERY MOTHER, AND YOU BELIEVE IT JUNK?!" Noire shouted.

"Don't you yell at me...I know that thing is junk because it doesn't have some dumb curse or fancy magic! I know what's really making you act that way and If I ever meet whoever your mother is...I have some very CHOICE words for her!" Cait yelled back.

"AND who even is your mother anyway?! If she's a parent and she poisoned that piece of junk to screw up your mind… ...It's up there in terms of being a terrible parent!" Cait followed up with.

* * *

Their 'conversation' lasted for a bit longer...Long enough for Cait to hear who Noire's mother was.

It turns out Noire's mother was someone called Tharja...A name that Cait heard of around the camp. They did meet each other when the Wastelanders settled in, but they never interacted again after that point.

Instead, Cait heard from others through conversations she overheard. Some of it was just about Tharja's personality and some other things that didn't leave a good impression on Cait.

But that was what she knew before Noire elaborated a bit more on Tharja. What was said in whatever Cait got to learn...Made her thoughts about this particular Shepherd get worse.

Once the conversation died off, Cait and Noire exited the ruins area they were in. Though at this moment, Cait wasn't focused on scavenging the battlefield after dropping Noire off to the group.

* * *

The group finally got reorganized after the Wastelanders picked the battlefield. It took longer because one person was not helping...that person being Cait.

The usual stuff with a parent and child meeting each other played out between Noire and Tharja. But once that event itself passed…

The Irish Wastelander made her way through to the female Shepherd, just glaring at her before suddenly ranting off in front of everyone. What Cait ended up saying...was just so full of vitriol and anger.

Somewhere in that rant, Cait gave her 'honest' opinion of what she knew about Tharja's parenting skills and just tore into that for a bit. Then came what Cait thought about how parents should act to their children and keep their wellbeing in mind.

That part ended, but then the rant jumped to a very clear warning from Cait to Tharja that she better treat Noire better from now on. The rant stopped after that and Cait stormed off to head straight back to camp as everyone watched her leave.

It was quiet after that...Just quiet as some people had to realize that just happened.

Kyle looked to Aria, saying as a understatement, "I take it this beats the last outburst by a decent amount?"

Aria just gave Kyle a look that outed said understatement.

"... … ...At least we got rid of the slavers… ...Before THAT happened." Kyle mumbled out.

"Yeah...doubtless that Tharja's going to try to get Cait back for that, though…" Aria stated.

"Not to mention the headache for whoever has to get those two to make up…" Kyle added.

* * *

Despite the fact there was usually some conversations going on the route back to camp...This time there wasn't any. It felt so weird, but no one was willing to talk to each other.

Time passed in this awkward state till they reached the camp, the sun already setting as everyone went to their tents to get this day over with.

End Chapter 22.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Despite the passing of time, there was still no one there.***

 ***If the camera was alive, it would have complained about the apparent lack of respect.***

 ***It has been there since the beginning...and here it was now. Alone inside this room.***

 ***But it was just a camera. A camera sitting on its tripod legs set to a timer to turn on and off on predetermined hours.***

 ***Reaching the end of its scheduled time, the camera turns off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	23. Chapter 23: Dueling Canine

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera switches on.***

 ***In front of the camera is just empty space. Yet again, no one was there to be a commentator.***

 ***A minute or two passes by.***

 ***The camera, if it were alive, would have screamed out in frustration.***

 ***Once it was done screaming, the camera would have checked around the room to see if there was anything it could do.***

 ***There was the nearby terminal where it could just mess around with the keyboard.***

 ***Or it could have just gone to the storage room and look around to find anything worthwhile.***

 ***There was even an option to just walk out of the room, go into the hallway and leave the studio to go bowling down at 'Short Coast Bowling' down on the city's main street.***

* * *

 ***Instead, what it would have done is just shift to the left or right and keep doing that till the tripod stand fell to the ground.***

 ***As it tried to do that in this hypothetical situation, it also made sure to start the chapter.***

 ***Chapter 23 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Dueling Canine**

 **The next day…**

Snow fell to the ground as the sea of grey in the sky kept making the white stuff plummet to the ground. It was freezing outside, making anyone who dared to venture out of the warm tents to pad up with clothes or what else would help.

One brave man who did that was Kyle, wandering out in his armor without anything else. He didn't regret his decision until a few minutes in as he realized how cold it could get outside the usually high heat filled days in the Mojave.

True, it did get cold out on Mojave nights in the desert, but not this cold. But Kyle keep moving as he made his way to Aria's tent to be in a warm tent with company.

* * *

Arriving at the tent flap as heavier snow started to fall faster, Kyle pushed the flap aside and asked if it was alright to enter.

Aria quickly responded back, allowing Kyle to enter. Once inside, Kyle brushed off the snow that built up on him before heading further inside.

The transition from cold to warm air felt refreshing to Kyle as his body continued to shiver despite his efforts to avoid showing how cold he felt. Looking around, Kyle could see Aria by herself reading a 'Nikola Tesla and You' book as she sat near the table.

She also had a few blankets nearby, with one already wrapped around her as she read through the page she was on.

"It's...really...c..old..outside...Col...der than...what I'm...used to." Kyle said aloud through his shivers.

Aria just nodded, while shivering, clearly trying to keep her mind off the cold.

After grabbing a blanket from the nearby pile, Kyle sat next to Aria, glancing over to see the page about a general description of what electricity does in nature.

"Feel...like you...can use this...info...with those...Thoron...tomes?"

Through her shivering, Aria tried shrugging.

"Okay...I...think it's time...we do something about...this." Kyle said, referring to their shivering.

Pulling out his arm with the Pipboy, he looked through till he found the junk tab. Once there, he pulls out a metal coffee pot, two ceramic mugs, and a hot plate with a few energy cells tapped into its battery slot.

After placing those items on the table, he searches through the Pipboy to get out a plastic bottle of purified water, a honey mesquite pod, and some coyote tobacco chew. With that, he crushes the pod and chew into a powder and pours into the water.

Following that, he empties the bottle into the coffee pot as the hot plate warms up. As the powdered water brewed, Kyle placed his hands just out of reach of the hot plate as it also warmed up the air.

Kyle glanced to Aria, signaling to her to do the same if her hands were cold.

Aria nodded and did the same...before sighing as she finally began to warm up.

A minute or two passes before the Courier grabs the handle of the coffee pot and pours out the hot liquid into the two coffee cups. A bit more time passes, leading Kyle to hand Aria a warm cup of joe before he grabbed the other one.

"I...just made...us…'Coffee'. It...should warm us...from the inside." Kyle shively noted. "Oh...and it's-"

Aria was alreading drinking from her mug...before quivering. "...B-Bitter…" she commented.

"Yeah...I...always...make sure to put...something sweet...after the first sip." Kyle said before drinking some from his own mug. "You...want me...to add..anything to change...the taste?"

Aria nodded, and passed the mug back.

Putting both of their mugs on the table, Kyle got out a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla and poured some into the two mugs. He also then just poured the rest into the coffee pot for good measure before storing the cap and bottle for later.

The cap, by the way, was just a normal cap.

With the soda dissipating into the coffee, Kyle grabbed the mugs again and handed Aria's mug to her first.

Aria gave the drink a taste...and smiled. "B-Better…"

Kyle followed as well...grinning after taking a bigger sip. "J...Just like...how I like it...back in...the Mojave."

* * *

The hot drinks in the mugs were finished and refilled for a second time just in case they wanted more. As they took their sip into the second round, they did feel warmer on the inside.

While this internal heat helped by stopping them from shivering, they were still cold on the outside, which meant they had to keep those blankets wrapped around them for the time being.

And speaking of time, they had plenty of it to use with the cold weather making it a bad idea to be outside.

"So...is there anything you want to talk about?" Kyle asked. "Like where I learned to make that recipe?"

Aria shrugged. "Maybe…" Aria still felt cold...then again, she'd never been good in the cold.

Kyle holded off on talking as he got another blanket for Aria, before handing it to her and saying, "If you need another one, just in case."

Aria nodded and smiled. "Thanks...never...been good in the cold…"

"Yeah, I get what you mean...When you spend too much time living in a desert, you tend to get use to the heat, not the cold."

"...I don't know...why I'm like this...all I know...is that the...first time I...entered Ferox and...encountered the cold...it...really affected me…" Aria replied.

"At least you're not alone and cold...You got me here with you to make sure you're warm and with lovely company." Kyle said in a reassuring tone.

Aria smiled again and nodded to that.

"But where was I? Um...The recipe for that pot of coffee. I heard about it one day from a trader who was selling a cup for like 50 caps. I asked about why it cost so much before they told me what made it worth that much."

"They told me it was great for anyone who needs that boost when you need to use your mind for something. I thought it was a bit too much to believe till they let me brew one on the house using the recipe."

"What it uses is these two plants, a honey mesquite pod and coyote tobacco chew, to make a batch of powder. Once it's made, place it inside a coffee pot with clean water, wait a bit, and there you go, fresh 'coffee'." Kyle elaborated, before ending with a peculiar tone.

"...You're saying that...as if this weren't...actual 'coffee'..." Aria replied.

"Because this 'coffee' isn't the real stuff. 'Real' coffee is made from things called coffee beans, except I think that plant that makes those died off after the Great War. So now, this recipe and other like it make 'Imitation' coffee...And from what I heard, the real stuff is WAY more bitter than what we can make in the Wasteland..." Kyle explained.

Aria's eyes widened.

"And just to go further, apparently, some people used to drink the real stuff with nothing added...just like that." Kyle added. "Of course, the only person I know who did that was Boone...Always wanted his coffee as it was."

"Boone?" Aria asked.

"One of my friends back in the Mojave...I was referring to him yesterday before I said I'll tell you about him later...and it's later now."

* * *

"So...Boone is… ...He's… ...Well, he was a former soldier for the NCR back when I first met him." Kyle tried to say without saying too much at first.

"Really?" Aria asked, "What was...his role?"

"You ever seen Leon using that hunting rifle of his? Boone used one of those as his main weapon for when he was a 'Sniper'. And I mean the type that Travis calls himself...The ones with rifles instead of bows." Kyle said.

Aria nodded, before looking down...then became sad she didn't have anything to record notes on...not like she could, with her holding her blankets like she was.

"If you want, I'll repeat this later so you can get it down." Kyle said before continuing with, "Anyway, Boone, much like every other NCR soldier uses guns to fight. Except Boone as a sniper used rifles that fired a bullet one at a time. The point being that they had to make sure their shots were accurate, so that's why he used the hunting rifle."

There was more about Boone that Kyle said...Though he had to stop as he reached the point that was...A bit difficult to talk about.

"... … ...What I said about him so far...was the easy stuff he was able to tell me." Kyle noted in an uneasy tone.

Aria tilted her head to the side, indicating she was listening.

Kyle quickly, but carefully used his words to explain what was next. In short, Boone lost his new family before Kyle showed up in the Mojave. That occurred because of what Caesar's Legion did to cause the event to unfold the way it did.

But ever since then, Boone became more cold and distant from the community he was living in at that time. It really messed him up and after Kyle helped out with something major, he became a person who wanted to tag along with the Courier...Though for his own reasons.

Time passed and Kyle got Boone to open up after many days and nights traveling with the man. Then one day, Boone made a request to visit a specific location...And a problematic event rose during the night they camped out there.

At this point, Kyle continued on for a bit longer before giving Aria a chance to get what he said. Once that was done, his tone, which was more neutral during that part, switched to a more pleasant tone.

After that day, Kyle was able to convince Boone to move on and keep on living to make up for what Boone felt he 'deserved' back in the past.

"...Though it seems like he's still the same as he was...I could tell from the way he talks now that he's changed. Of course, not all of him changed...If you remember what I said about me and Veronica disliking Caesar's Legion, he absolutely hates them, but you know why now…" Kyle ended his story about Boone after that.

Aria had tears in her eyes after hearing that story, saddened about what Boone had to go through.

"And that's why I said Cait reminds me of him...Because I think she went through something just as terrible as he did in the lowest point in her life." Kyle added, before taking a hearty swig out of his mug.

Aria just looked down, contemplating what she was just told, not sure how to reply, until she remembered something. "Cait...did mention...something about...having been...sold into...slavery...before escaping…"

"That may...be the cause of why Cait...is what she is today. But… … ...It feels like it's not the 'whole' story...If you get what I mean." Kyle said as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was thinking.

* * *

A few hours passed as the snow outside continued to keep falling. The Courier poked his head back in after checking and just said, "Well...with the weather and temperature as it is...I don't think it's a good idea for me to head back to my tent. Is it alright if I have to stay here overnight, Aria?"

Aria nodded. "Sure...I guess…"

"Thanks… ...Man...I feel really tired...right about now." Kyle said as he had to keep his eyes open.

The Courier moved towards Aria before his legs sorta gave out and ended up almost fully falling to the ground. Aria went over to help him stay up.

"Oh right...I forgot about what coffee does after you drink it. Makes your arms and legs feel jittery if you drink too much of it." Kyle said as he looked over at the table.

"I...see…" Aria replied, beginning to shiver more as her blankets fell off when she got up.

"Look...I'll get them for you…" Kyle tried to say as he reached for the blankets to cover Aria up again…

...Instead only to fall completely to the ground this time due to his jittery legs. He got up by himself and made sure to focus this time.

He got the blankets off the ground and gave them to Aria...Before asking, "I...think...I need to...lay down...for a bit. Can...I...use...your bed?"

Aria nodded. "Sure…"

Kyle just smiled before he gave up his blanket to Aria. He then turned to the bed...settling down on his back before the after effects of the caffeine in his system made him start sleeping.

And just like that, he was out.

At that, Aria just got back to reading, occasionally glancing at Kyle.

* * *

 **A few days later...**

Getting out of the snow, the group moved westward...only to find themselves still in the northern region of the continent they were on. Meaning, they had to deal with more snow and coldness.

But their efforts to keep going braved them past the weather and land to find a small isolated community in a predicament.

The predicament being...Brigands.

One of the maidens in the village talked about how their leader performed a dishonorable trick to have an advantage against his opponent in a duel. The opponent was the maiden's husband, who was slain down after the leader held a girl hostage and used the situation to his advantage.

This didn't go well with a recent arrival to the village, who demanded that the leader fight her in a duel...Just like the husband did. The leader...actually agreed to this, telling the female duelist to meet in the nearby ruins to settle this.

Of course, the maiden felt that this 'duel' was going to turn out to be a nefarious trap...So, she asked for help from the group to do something. Naturally, the group decided to head to the ruins to hopefully stop before the 'duel' started.

* * *

Outside the entrance of the ruins in the dusk of the evening as the snow continued to fall, the pairs for the battle strategy were made.

As usual, Kyle and Aria were working together as a team, along with Leon and Veronica. Cait wanted to say something before Travis interrupted and said that he'll be Cait's partner.

That just left Dogmeat to be the only one without a partner...Not that the dog minded at all.

* * *

The group broke out into different paths, as Dogmeat went north into the ruins. Two brigands were out searching when they heard commotion coming from the front of the ruins until they saw the canine sprinting towards them.

One of them tried to intercept the running dog with their steel sword, missing as the dog leaped on the brigand and started biting him rapidly. His comrade tried to strike Dogmeat, only to hit the wrong target instead.

The Wasteland dog then attacked the comrade and finished him off after biting the arm that held the steel sword. Then the canine made sure the first brigand was taken care of. Dogmeat then advanced north again.

* * *

As the dog went on his own way, Kyle and Aria headed left from the entrance to find a room with a decent amount of brigands inside.

Due to being indoors and in semi-tight corridors, Kyle was armed with his hunting shotgun. Any brigand who was in firing range got sent flying to the ground as the Mojave Wasteland pulled the trigger multiple times.

The few that were outside of Kyle's range did not fair any better. While she had the Saturnite Fist ready, Aria was going with her tried and true method of 'blasting them in the face with Thoron'.

The numbers of brigands dwindled over time, as the pair made their way further in to find a dead end beyond the entrance to a lower floor. Some noise came from the lower floor, followed by a trio of brigands running out, trying to attack.

Two of them don't make it very far as Kyle blasted them back with his shotgun. The third brigand, decked in heavy armor and a strong shield was able to withstand the pellets sent his way.

Having to reload, Kyle dodged as the armored brigand missed with his steel lance. After being able to load at least one shell in, Kyle aimed his gun and fired at one of the brigand's legs.

The shot landed and brought the brigand down to their knees, still holding onto the shield.

Aria responded with, since the brigand was in close range, a punch with the Saturnite Fist. It knocked the shield out of the brigand's hand, thus allowing her second shot to strike the brigand straight in the gut.

The brigand collapsed after that and stopped moving after a few seconds pass. It became quiet as the two didn't hear anything from the lower floor. With that, this room was considered clear and the two had to get moving to clear any additional rooms they run across.

* * *

On the opposite direction, Travis, Cait, Leon, and Veronica tackled two rooms with their respected partners.

Taking the closest one to the entrance, Leon and Veronica entered and used their sudden appearance to strike the closest brigands with their weapons of choice. For Leon, he used the Shiskabob to slash and burn a tome using brigand.

As for Veronica, she used her Displacer glove in conjunction with the uppercut to send the armored brigand she punched in the face into the air. Said flying brigand ended up landing on a comrade disrupting the spell they were going to cast.

More attacks followed from the duo, along with the counterattacks of the brigands still standing. Those didn't hit due to the efforts made in dodging and were repaid with strikes that did hit.

The small room conflict went on for a bit longer as reinforcements ran up only to get sent down to the ground a moment later.

* * *

Heading north from that position in the ruins led to another filled room of brigands next to a pathway to the lower floor. This one had Travis and Cait be the ones to clear it out..

They didn't use the same style of weapons... Cait used her double barrel shotgun, while Travis used the ritual sword to attack brigands. Despite the two styles, their clearing of the room was relatively easy.

After exiting, the two went north again to move through a corridor to find a much larger open space at its end. The wide open area was very dark due to the minimalist amount of light getting in.

But this also provided an opportunity, which Travis gladly used. Swapping out the sword with his silenced pistol and signaling Cait to be quiet, the two carefully picked the room clean of brigands.

After being sure that the room was safe and no reinforcements were on the way, Cait searched around to find a chest in one of the corners. Breaking out the lockpicking set, Cait opened it and pulled out a medium sized set of gold.

"See anything else around here that needs to be unlocked?" Cait asked Travis, pocketing the gold away in a bag.

"Not really… … ...I… …" Travis replied before just going silent.

"If you're waiting for me to say something, I'm still not in the mood for chitchat." Cait retorted.

"I'm just concerned about-"

"Then keep that concern to yourself and shut up. I'm… … … …" The Irish Wastelander drifted off before silencing herself.

"... … …"

"... … …"

"...Then we better stop wasting time and get back to fighting...Partner?" Travis asked.

"Aren't I supposed to be your friend, rather than a partner?" Cait pointed out.

"You're both…"

If it wasn't for the darkness, Travis would have been able to see Cait being glad to hear that. That moment passed as the two got refocused into the combat going on around them.

* * *

The Wasteland mutt pushed his nose through the doorway in his path as the rest of him got by. Once inside, Dogmeat looked around to find the room he was in to be seemingly empty…

Until he saw a brigand and charged at the person to attack them. The brigand wasn't expecting that, allowing the dog to knock the foe to the ground easier before finishing him off.

As Dogmeat got done with that, he heard a heavy footstep outside of his vision. Turning around, his eyes met the eyes of a young woman.

She had olive-colored hair, and seemed to be wearing heavy armor. Said armor was the bulky type that some select Shepherds used with that sorta 'shell' part in the shoulders and neck area. There was also the large shield and steel lance held in her armored hands…

Dogmeat just turned his head to the side as the female knight was just about to question what the dog in front of her was doing here. Until she noticed the unmoving brigand that the dog was near...with a lot of bite marks around their neck.

Then...Dogmeat sprinted towards the female knight and she pulled up her shield thinking the dog was going to attack her…

Only to find out the dog went past her and leaped at an armored brigand that was going to attack her. This attack didn't work as well, because the brigand managed to wrestle Dogmeat off and counter attack by throwing the dog to the ground. Then the lance was going to strike next.

The female knight stopped that from happening as she used her own weapon to strike first. The impact of the lance attack pushed the armored knight to his back as he collapsed from the damage inflicted.

Dogmeat got up and looked at the female knight for a bit till she came to the conclusion that the dog was here to help, given that the dog was attacking the brigands.

* * *

The large room that held the knight and dog was cleared out of reinforcements coming from both west and east. After that, they advanced to the west, finding the ringleader of the enemies.

The leader focused on the female knight as he sent a dark spell at her. She dodged in time to continue doing the same for the follow up attack. While he got ready to cast the next set, Dogmeat charged from the side and chomped down on the arm holding the tome.

Then the Wasteland mutt bit the other hand before clawing the leader's face to keep him distracted. The leader was able to force Dogmeat off and pick up the tome off the ground to send a spell towards this canine.

The distraction worked...As the female knight slammed her shield into his face before ramming the steel lance into his torso with all of her strength. The brigand leader exhaled his last breath...and collapsed forward to the ground after the lance was pulled out.

Dogmeat just barked at the female knight, who in turn saw that his tail was wagging. A second or two passes before Dogmeat barks again and heads off without the female knight.

* * *

 **Some time later...**

The dog from the Capital Wasteland waited outside in the snow as he saw the Wastelanders return from their scavenging tour around the interior of the ruins. When Leon was done talking with his fellow wastelanders, the man went towards his dog and looked him over just in case.

After the checkup was done and finding no real injuries on Dogmeat, Leon petted his dog's head a few times before saying, "You really are a good dog, boy."

Dogmeat wagged his tail in agreement before his attention went towards that female knight he helped. Once that happened, he moved over to her and barked, getting her attention.

The female knight looked down to see Dogmeat, before looking back up to see Leon catching up to his dog. What happened next was a small conversation between the two people as the dog listened in.

The female knight said that her name was Kjelle and she went to explain that the dog in front of help kept her safe. She also wondered about Dogmeat and learned his name and the fact that he was Leon's dog...and best friend.

At the end of their conversation, Kjelle thanked Dogmeat for his help, causing that tail to wag once again before he barked back to show that he was appreciative.

* * *

 **The next night...**

After Kjelle got to met her parents and more stuff happened, the group went back to the camp and retired for the remaining hours left in the night. The following day was much better in terms it being warmer and snow had stopped for a while.

It came back when the sun started to settle into the horizon, bringing the temperature down again. And with it came the shivering from Kyle and Aria.

Back inside Aria's tent, the two tried to stay warm with their blanket method as they tried to read the magazines in their hands.

"I...think...it's getting late...Perhaps...we should...try...sleeping through this…" Kyle said in between shivers.

Aria nodded at that.

The two made their way to the bed, making sure to keep the blankets wrapped around them as they laid down on it. Kyle had one side, Aria had the other.

Kyle laid up to grab two more blankets that were rung over the front part of the bed and unfolded them before making sure to cover him and Aria with them.

"I...feel...a bit warmer...How...about you?"

Aria nodded a bit. "Yeah...a bit…"

"You know...There's...like one more...thing we can do…"

"What?" Aria asked.

"This…" Kyle said in response...followed by him kissing Aria on the lips.

"...My face...feels...warmer...already." Kyle admitted as his cheeks turned red, along with a small smile.

"M-Me too…" Aria replied, her cheeks turning red as well...

"If...you...need another...I got...plenty... ...But...I think...I'll see...you in... the morning…" Kyle said as he closed his eyes at the end...still smiling.

Aria looked at Kyle...before smiling, and going to sleep as well...

End Chapter 23.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***At this point, the camera would have been laying on its side after it fell off the tripod.***

 ***It would have been trying to then get itself back onto the tripod stand and wait till someone entered to make stand up straight again.***

 ***At the point, it would have been going back to business as usual.***

 ***But no one showed up...and the camera never fell to the ground.***

* * *

 ***Instead, it just stood there.***

 ***Somewhere out in the distance...It hears two loud sounds...just barely.***

 ***If it could move, it would have checked to see what was going on.***

 ***It may have gotten help if there was the need for help.***

 ***It also could have finally seen somebody for once.***

 ***But that never happened...The camera just stood there.***

* * *

 ***The camera felt lonely.***

 ***All alone in the room…***

 ***But it's just a camera.***

 ***A ordinary camera...nothing more...nothing less.***

 ***The camera turns off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	24. Chapter 24: Nuclear Supports V

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***In front of the camera is Kyle, Aria, Travis, and Cait. They all look ready to commentate, save for Cait.***

 **Kyle: *Starting off with, "Welcome back, I'm Kyle Sevon…"***

 **Aria: "I'm Aria…"**

 **Travis: I'm Travis William...**

 **Cait: *Barely catching up* "I'm Cait…"**

 **Kyle: "And this means the latest chapter of FFNA is up. I'll get us started off with the chapter first."**

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Chapter 24 Starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 24 : Nuclear Supports V**

 **Two days later...**

" _ **HELLO CAPITAL WASTELAND, IT'S THREE DOG! Time for another round of ME!"**_

" _ **Now listen closely kiddies, this announcement is very important. If you haven't gotten your copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide yet, now's the time. I'm sure there are some of you out there saying, "But Three Dog, I don't have the caps to pay for it right now.""**_

" _ **Then I say you better make sure to continue saving some caps and get it quickly because I'm doing something for the good fight I've been talking about all these years. I'm going to be visiting Megaton to hand out free copies with the author of the guide."**_

" _ **And of course, I do need to mention that I highly recommend the guide as well. After all, that kid from 101 was the one to help make it what it is today. So, keep on living and fighting the good fight."**_

" _ **Now, for some music…"**_

* * *

Inside Aria's tent, the music played out from Kyle's Pip-Boy as he was reading a copy of 'Dean's Electronics' on one side of the table. On the opposite side was Aria, who was reading (actually struggling to read) a 'Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual'.

Looking up from his book, Kyle glanced over to see Aria deeply focusing in her reading material. He puts down his book and just says, "...You alright, Aria?"

Aria just kept reading the manual… … ...although she seemed to be getting more and more irritated.

"Aria, would you be okay with swapping books?" Kyle asked, noting her current expression.

Aria wasn't paying attention, and appeared to be concentrating on the book still.

"Okay, then I'll take that as a no…" Kyle said as he got back into reading his own book.

He gets back to the page he was on and continues for a bit, till he glances up to look at Aria again.

The Tactician...wasn't doing very well in understanding what the text was in her book, which was easily told by her growing irate look in her eyes as she continued to 'read' it.

"... … ...GAH! WHAT IS WITH THIS BOOK?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A THING IN IT!" Aria finally shrieked in anger.

Treading a risky path, Kyle keeps his eyes down on his own book as he sarcastically says, "Too bad, cause I hear that particular book has the secret to immortality in its text…"

Aria just leveled an irritated glare at Kyle. "Not... _funny!_ "

Kyle moved his eyes to meet Aria as he responds back with, "I know, but I have to say something with how long you been staring at that book."

"What language is this book even IN anyways, to where it uses such...infuriatingly indecipherable symbols as writing?!" Aria yelled irritably.

"I believe it's written in 'Chinese', a different language compared to the one we're used to reading and speaking right now." Kyle answered back.

Aria looked back down at the book, before turning back to Kyle. "If...you know what the language IS...could you...help me...with reading it?"

"Sure...Just give me a sec to move over." Kyle replied before he moved himself and his chair over next to Aria.

Once he was ready, he asked Aria for the book. She handed it over and he made sure she could see it as well.

"So, here's how to make the most of this book…" Kyle initially said before he just skips over pages filled with text till he reaches a page with some process with illustrations.

"...Just look at these and ignore every single symbol or text in this book." Kyle added as he made sure Aria could see the detailed illustrations.

"...But...what if the text has useful information?" Aria questioned quietly.

"If it does, then we'll never know. I can't actually read 'Chinese' anyway." Kyle admitted as he focused on the illustrations.

Aria slumped, disappointed.

"I don't think you need the text anyways...See these illustrations I'm looking at?" Kyle retorted, trying to get Aria's attention.

Aria looked for a moment, before replying, "Yes… … …"

"Follow them instead of the text, like this one for example…" Kyle said as began pointing out the steps.

The two of them kept going through the book like this, allowing Aria to get visual information on how to move around in a stealthy manner. And even if she didn't get it from the book, Kyle filled her in on some tricks of his own just in case.

* * *

A short bit of time later, Kyle eventually swapped out the Training Manual for his 'Dean's Electronics' and helped Aria read through it. This book was written in 'English', but Aria needed help understanding the more technological based vocabulary.

They kept reading on together till another person entered the tent, getting their attention...

That being their future daughter, Morgan...

"Say...uhm...dad? I need to show you something…" Morgan said.

"Will it take long?" Kyle quickly retorted as he hands the book over to Aria.

"It...shouldn't…" Morgan replied.

"Okay, then let's get moving…" Kyle replied to Morgan before turning back to Aria and quickly saying, "I'll be back in a bit, Aria."

The Courier and Future Daughter depart as the latter leads the former to a spot a bit away from the nearest tent in the camp.

"So what am I supposed to be looking for, Morgan?" Kyle asked as he kept following her.

"Hmmm…It's up there...can you see it?" she asked, pointing ahead.

"Are you sure you not just seeing things, Morgan? I...don't think whatever you saw is out there anymore." Kyle asked, in a suspecting tone as he looks to where Morgan was pointing.

"It's there, I see it...maybe you need to just step forward a little bit more…"

Kyle takes her word and takes a few steps forward before stopping as he thinks he hears Morgan mumbles something to herself. He then takes a few more steps forward and then feels something odd with the ground.

He looks down only to see that he managed to walk over a large pitfall in the ground that was covered up to be hidden.

"Morgan, did you only ask me to follow you so I end up falling in a pit?" Kyle immediately said following seeing the trap in the ground.

Morgan's eyes were wide. "Bu-...how…"

"If there's one thing I've learned from the Wasteland, its how to identify traps on or in the ground. Granted, you did a rather excellent job at hiding it." Kyle noted as he looked to her.

"How'd you figure it out so fast, though?" Morgan asked.

"Simple, you didn't do very well on keeping me from getting suspicious. The trap would have worked if that didn't happen." Kyle elaborated.

Morgan sighed in defeat. "Alright… … ...could you...help me bury this hole again, please?"

"Yeah, I can. Just give me a sec to check something…" Kyle said in a pleasant tone as he looked through his Pip-Boy.

Unbenounced to the two of them, there was a third person tagging along that had just caught up with them. That person was Leon, who ended up getting asked by Aria to tell Kyle to head back if he was done seeing whatever Morgan needed him to see.

The Capital Wastelander ends up running towards Kyle, unaware of the trap in the way as he says, "Hey Kyle, Aria needs to see-"

And then just like that his foot sets off the trap, pushing the disguised cover over the pit down and taking the rest of him down into it.

Leon screams for a second till he reaches the bottom and a loud groan of pain comes out, getting Kyle's attention away from his Pip-Boy and then to Morgan.

"...Please tell me...that you didn't make the pit very deep. You didn't… ...do that, right?" Kyle asked, now in a worried tone.

Morgan...looked sheepish. "Uhm...heheh?"

* * *

Suffice to say, the pit was actually pretty deep and it took them a bit to actually help Leon get out of there. The Capital Wastelander did get told that Morgan was the one who set it up…

And Leon...didn't really care about that, mainly because he wasn't that badly injured. He was still going to need to get his legs treated however.

So with Leon back on above ground, Kyle stayed behind to fill in the pit with dirt as Morgan helped Leon get over to the medical tent.

"I am really REALLY sorry about that…" Morgan said for what was probably the fifth time.

"You don't need to apologize that much, I already accepted it the first time you said it." Leon retorted in a friendly tone despite the pain he was feeling.

"One thing I'm wondering is...why aren't you in as much pain as you should have been: that pit was REAL deep…" Morgan commented.

"It may have to do with the fact that I made my legs tougher overall by falling off some pretty high places to the ground and letting them heal up afterwards. Leon answered. "Of course, that was after I got done with that particular 'part' of the Survival Guide…"

Morgan looked confused. "Survival Guide?"

"Oh that's right...Sorry, I should be more clear. I'm referring to something called the 'Wasteland Survival Guide'. It's a book I helped write by being a expert for the author back where I come from." Leon elaborated after realizing Morgan didn't get what he meant.

"Oh...alright, I-" Morgan than froze as she began staring off into space...as a scene played out in her mind…

"...You alright, Morgan?" Leon asked to hopefully get her attention after seeing her like that.

Morgan snapped out of it, then just stared at Leon for a bit...before…"I… … ...think...I...remember…" She then wracked her brain, trying to get the memory back.

"What did you remember?" Leon asked, as he vaguely recalled hearing Kyle say that Mark and Morgan were ammeniciacs.

"...Something about us going over the Guide...and you said...to make sure to always be ready...especially in 'these' times…" She put air quotes around 'these'.

"...Except I...Wait, are you referring to now or the…" Leon said as he was coming to an conclusion in his mind.

"I think it's referring to my past-er, future-er… … ...This is so confusing…" Morgan replied.

"But it's clearly some point in time besides now, that's for sure, right?" Leon said, hoping to help her be a bit less confused.

"Yes, I believe so…" Morgan replied.

"And this is a memory you managed to get back...I think if you get more memories, things will start making more sense hopefully." Leon noted.

Morgan nodded. "Hopefully…"

The two ended up making it to the medical tent, letting Morgan be able to head back to Kyle as Leon got to resting and staying off his feet as the pain slowly died down.

* * *

Aria was reading while waiting for Kyle to return. As she was, however, after a period of time, Mark entered the room. "Hey, mom?" he asked.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Have you seen dad? I need to repair my gun, and...I need a bit of help with that… … …" he said.

"Oh, uhm, he went off with your sister to see something…" Aria replied.

Mark snapped his fingers. "Shoot!

Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "Maybe...I could help out?"

"Are...you sure?" Mark asked.

"Yes, I've watched your father clean and maintain his weapon multiple times...I might be able to help out…" Aria replied.

"Well...alright, let's give it a try… … …

After about a half-hour of them trying to repair the weapon… … …

"... … ...This...isn't going very well…" Mark commented.

Aria had her hands over her mouth in shock. "I am SO SORRY...I just...I-"

"It's ok, mom...it's nothing I can't fix… … …" Mark replied, before sighing and getting to work fixing the chamber of the gun.

"Alright...I...I...I'll just...get...going...I'm sorry…" Aria replied, sheepishly making her way out of the room.

Mark just sighed, and he got to work.

* * *

The rusted weapon was still in the middle of being fixed, though the chamber was finally fixed.

Of course, there was still more parts of the weapon that needed to be fixed that Mark wasn't as good with fixing...that mainly being the barrel and iron sights.

Another person entered the tent, this time the person was Travis.

"Aria, is Kyle around? I need to… …" was all he said till he noticed that Aria and Kyle were not around, save for Mark who was still focusing on fixing his weapon.

"Hey Mark, I'm sorry for bugging you, but do you know where your parents are?" Travis asked nicely.

Mark sighed. "Dad's off with Morgan doing something and mom...well...she tried helping me repair Lucky and...after she accidently damaged the chamber...she...showed herself out…"

"Oh...I see. Do you need still help repairing Lucky?" Travis responded as he saw the rusted revolver in Mark's hands.

Mark nodded. "Yeah...I can handle the chamber just fine, but… … …" Instead of finishing, he just showed Travis the gun.

"Mind if I get a feel of what's wrong with the weapon before I start?" Travis asked quickly.

"Not at all," Mark replied, passing the gun to him.

Travis scanned over the revolver and tested a few parts for a bit till he puts the revolver on the table in front of Mark.

"The grip is getting closer to breaking from the damage from the recoil, the barrel needs to be cleaned and fixed, and these ironsights are wearing away faster because of the rust. You're actually very fortunate that Lucky still works for now…" Travis commented.

Mark shrugged. "How am I supposed to fix that? The only thing I know is fixing the chamber and what to do when the thing jams…"

"I got tools back in my tent that I can use to finish the rest of the maintenance for Lucky… … Actually, I can also teach you how to fix everything else in addition to the chamber if you want." Travis replied back.

Mark smiled. "I'd appreciate that. Thank you…"

The two of them moved over to Travis' tent, which led to Lucky getting fixed by Travis using his tools as he took apart the revolver.

He repaired the grip with a new one that was more durable, reinforced the iron sights after cleaning the rust off, and cleaned out the barrel. This also was accompanied by him going over step by step instructions for Mark on each part he worked on at the moment.

After the gun was put back together, Travis handed off the repaired Lucky to Mark and let him look it over.

Mark was shocked. "The gun doesn't look as bad anymore…" He then handled the gun. "It...doesn't feel as awkward as it usually does…"

"If anything, that kind of revolver was made to last in comparison to other weapons. Of course that comes at the cost of only being able to fix it, not mod it." Travis commented, before sighing to himself..

"'Mod' it?" Mark questioned.

"To be more specific, I'm talking about 'modifying' Lucky here and what that 'usually' entails is changing out the parts like the grip and making them better by making new specific parts to replace them. Do you get what I mean now?" Travis answered back.

"I guess...why can't Lucky be modified?" Mark asked.

Travis pauses and thinks over for a second or two before responding back with, "Because the way Lucky was made is not suitable for modifications. And if I was able to modify somehow, it wouldn't be 'Lucky' anymore..."

Mark was about to make a remark...only for him to groan and clench his head.

Travis immediately spoke up saying in a worried tone, "Mark, please tell me what's going on if you can…"

"I...think I...remember...you talking to me about this...before… … ...you were using a different weapon to demonstrate, though…" Mark replied.

"... ...Give me a second. I'll get out all of my weapons to help you out figure out which one it was." Travis said before he pulled up his Pip-Boy.

After getting the weapons out, Travis showed each one to Mark. The only one he gave a real noticeable reaction to was the Laser Musket.

"... … ...Lazine…" Mark gasped, as though it pulled a memory to the surface of his mind.

"... … … ...Mark, please repeat that name again…" Travis asked in a baffled tone.

"Lazine…" Mark replied.

"That's the name I gave to the Laser Musket you see before you… ...The thing is, I don't tell people the names I give my weapons very often…So, clearly something is off." Travis noted aloud.

"I...think...it's one of my memories from...before...coming back to me… … ...it's what you called that weapon in the memory…"

"Mark… ...I think you should go tell your parents about this. This...may tie back into whatever was going in the future before you ended up here…" Travis said calmly as he tried to wrap his own mind on what is going on.

Mark nodded. "Alright…" he said, before leaving, but not before he ensured he had Lucky with him.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at the medical tent…**

Laying down with his back on the bed was Leon, taking it easy at the moment as he waited for the stimpack to do its job with assisting in the healing.

He told Morgan to leave him be for now, but to especially go find Aria and tell her about the pit and the memory. Though he specified to talk more about the memory than the pit for some reason…

As Leon focused on resting, a certain former scribe ended up walking into the medical tent to see what was going on.

"Hey, why were you and Morgan…" Veronica tried to say before-

"Don't ask." Leon immediately stated back. "I mean… ...You can ask, but I don't want to answer."

"Oh come on, you can tell me. I'm a friend, am I not?" Veronica retorted in a curious tone.

"Fine...But only because I plan on skipping out on our sparring match today." Leon replied back.

"...But you promised that we actually get to spar for once! I've been looking forward to testing out the boxing gloves I made." Veronica noted in a disappointed tone.

"And I've been looking forward to it as well...Just ran into a problem that effectively canceled it."

"So, what was it?"

"Well, I ended up getting asked by Aria to go see if Kyle was done seeing something with Morgan and for my efforts, I fall down a pit Morgan made and really banged up my legs." Leon answered back.

"So that's why she was helping you across camp…" Veronica noted. "Well, I'll guess I'll postpone the sparing till you're ready to go."

"Thank you for that." Leon said simply before continuing with, "Talk to you later, Veronica."

"See you then, Leon." Veronica replied before she left the medical tent, heading off to be with someone else.

* * *

Veronica opened the way into the tent by moving the tent flap and made sure to say out loud, "Travis, is alright if I come talk to you about something?"

There was no response at first. But just as Veronica was going to leave…

She heard what sounded to be Travis crying to himself…

Taking a risk, she went further in to see that Travis was indeed crying as he sat on his chair, his hat and glasses nearby on the table as he continued to be choked up about something...

"Travis...Are you alright?" Veronica asked, approaching slowly just in case.

Travis continued to sob, even covering his own eyes with his hands as tries to fight off the emotions he was feeling.

"...Travis...Its me, Veronica. If...you need someone to talk to...I'm right here." The former scribe awkwardly exclaimed as she got closer to him.

The Commonwealth Wastelander just kept sobbing, but managed to pull himself together only to allow Veronica sit near him as he used her to help keep himself steady and upright.

This kept going on and on...As Veronica wondered what was affecting Travis...

* * *

Back at the medical tent, Leon picked himself up as he hears someone enter the tent. Not seeing who it was, Leon remained silent as he saw it was the Irish Wastelander herself.

"What are you looking at, Leon?" Cait immediately called out in a annoyed tone as Leon kept looking at her.

"Looking at you, Cait. There's no one else here besides you."

"Then how about you take those eyes and close them up for once?" Cait suggested in the same tone as before.

"How about you stop worrying about that and worry about what else you've been doing recently?" Leon countered back.

"What are you...Oh, I see. Since you want to dig your nose into this, what do you suggest I do, Leon?" Cait retorted back, albeit a bit less annoyed and a bit angerier instead.

"How about you calm down, gather your thoughts, and go apologize to the person you blew up on a while ago? I think it'll be good for you to do…" Leon responded in a serious tone.

Cait...hesitated to respond back, but when she did, all that came out was, "Maybe I will…"

Then just like that, Cait left to leave Leon to be by himself. The Capital Wastelander went back to resting as the pain in his legs flared up again…

* * *

Aria finally returned to her tent, only to find Mark missing, and that Morgan and Kyle were not back yet. She decided to head to her desk and get some work done while she waited for them.

The tent flap was moved out of the way, allowing the person who walked in to make some noise that Aria didn't end up paying attention given how focused she was on her work.

"Hey, I know you're busy at the moment, but we need to talk right now…" The person called out to Aria, in a rather impatient tone.

Aria looked up from what she was doing. "What is it?"

The person, who quickly turned out to be Cait, just responded back with, "You need to go talk to that crazy dark haired lunatic and tell her to stop muttering nonsense about curses…"

Aria looked at her for a moment. "What're you talking about?"

"Oh come on, even someone like yourself can't get who I'm referring to?! I'm talking about that 'Tharja' lady who is quite possibly one of the most insane people I ever met…" Cait just said out loud.

"I got who you referred to," Aria replied plainly, "But what 'nonsense' are you talking about?"

"I tried to, as Leon suggested, to go to apologize to her about what happened...recently. Except as soon as I walk in after asking if I can head in, I get told she placed some dumb 'curse' on me and I'll be stuck with it until I apologize." Cait explained quickly.

Aria froze and gulped. "Well...I suggest you get to apologizing...Tharja's known around camp for being...spiteful...to those she perceived wronged her…And when she's feeling spiteful towards people… … ...bad things happen to those people..."

Despite hearing Aria's words, Cait just shook her head in disagreement. "Oh please, I know for a fact she is just lying to act all scary. Curses do not exist and anything resembling them is just total hogwash."

Aria turned towards Cait. "Cait, look: you're in a world of MAGIC here...I don't know how things are back in your world, in the supernatural sense, but here, Magic, Curses, all that stuff, exists...The sooner you admit it to yourself, the easier it'll be...on all of us…" The last part, Aria muttered to herself.

"Then tell me, do you seriously think that keepsake talisman whatever of Noire's was 'cursed'?" Cait suddenly asked.

"Knowing how Tharja can get, yes, I do...it's the only explanation NATIVE TO OUR WORLD that can explain what's going on…" Aria replied, stressing the 'native to our world' part.

"Well too bad, because I KNOW a perfect explanation that overrides whatever you think it is." Cait bragged.

"Except for the fact that we don't HAVE 'chems' like those that exist in your world here. The only ones here would be in the possession of those that came from the Wasteland, and hearing what you guys think of them, I don't see them leaving your guys' possession without being picked off your corpses…" Aria replied, sternly, "As such, you need to learn that our world DOES NOT WORK LIKE YOURS DOES… … …"

"EXCEPT I'M PRETTY SURE I KNOW THAT TALISMAN WAS SPIKED WITH PSYCHO!" Cait yelled back as her response.

Aria glared at Cait, before evenly saying, "You've shown no sign, or proof, of professional knowledge of what Psycho does to someone...Furthermore, Leon explained to me what each Chem does and besides those little 'episodes' she has, Noire shows no other sign of Psycho intake. And besides: where would Tharja, past, present, OR future, GET IT? None of us know how to make it, and the only people who WOULD have any aren't gonna be giving it up unless you pry it from their cold dead hands…"

"... ...Do you even know who I am? OF course I know what Psycho does to someone one...I've was addicted to that garbage for THREE YEARS of my life! The SAME THREE YEARS that were the worst time of my life. I'VE just been going for a year without taking it...AND YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO COPE WITH THAT?! HERE'S A HINT, NOT A WALK IN THE PARK!" Cait bluntly and loudly answered back, momentally unaware of what she just admitted…

Aria just looked at her surprised, blinking.

"... …And it doesn't help that I was beginning to get used to the Wasteland, for all of its problems and people in it. Except now I'm here in whatever world this is and I have to get used to what makes it tick… … ...Instead of what I already know." Cait admitted, her anger plummeting.

"... … ...That's...not really the best way of handling things… … …" Aria commented, uneasily.

"Yeah, I know...I've known that for quite a while...It's just… ...just…" Cait ended up getting silent.

"Uhm…just...what?" Aria asked.

"It's just that I fell in love with Travis and I've been thinking about him more and more...And he has seen how I've been acting recently...I'm worried about how things will go between us." Cait suddenly said, as her facial expressions showed she didn't want to say that at all...

"... … ...I _think_ we found out what kind of curse Tharja left on you… … …" Aria commented.

"Figures the curse was actually real...I was actually expecting it to be much worse." Cait said out loud, her expressions showing yet again that what she was saying was not to come out.

"Apparently, it's forcing you to say what you're actually thinking…" Aria theorized.

"Then maybe the two of us should go talk to Tharja about stopping this. Though I'm going to need your help cause she sorta freaks me out." Cait...continued to say against her wishes.

"Uhm...not sure how I can help then, because I feel uneasy around her as well… … ...Of course, that may have more to do with her...formerly more intense, but still present...obsession with me… … …" Aria replied, shivering.

"But come on! I need your help… ...You may hate my guts for what I've done so far and you're free to think that way after all of this. But please, you have to help me out… ...I...can't do this by myself." Cait said desperately, despite her facial expression.

Aria thought for a moment, before giving another shiver. "I'm REALLY not gonna like this…" she said, in a resigned manner.

"Trust me, it's probably going to be worse for me given how mad she looked when I didn't apologize…" Cait noted in a nervous tone, despite her expression yet again.

The two quickly made their way to Tharja's tent after leaving Aria's tent...

* * *

 **Some short amount of time later…**

The Irish Wastelander had her 'thought curse' lifted from Tharja...Once said Irish Wastelander apologized multiple times in addition to the help Aria provided with her own words.

After it was over, Cait honestly apologize for asking Aria's help and made a promise that she owed the tactician a few favors in exchange for tagging along to deal with Tharja.

Aria acknowledged and accepted them for now...

The two then splitted off after that, as Cait immediately went towards Travis' tent. Once she was close enough, she ended up hearing something…

Moving the tent flap out of the way, Cait saw something she didn't expect to see…

Travis crying all by himself…

"Trav...What's wrong?" Cait started asking as she slowly approached him.

The only response Travis gave back was more sobbing.

"Trav...Please calm down and talk to me. I'm here to listen if you need someone to talk to…" Cait said gently as she kept closing the distance slowly.

"... … ...Why did...Why did I do… …" Travis mumbled out as he struggled to calm down.

"...What are you referring to…?"

"... ...Its… ...Its… Its...Its all about…" Travis struggled to say out loud before stopping himself.

"Trav… ...Just tell me what it is...Unless you...don't want…to." Cait responded back slowly.

Time passed in the span of seconds before Travis looked up to see Cait's eyes, full of worry and concern. Then his hands went around Cait, as he brought himself closer to hug her.

Cait repaid the action by doing the same as the two held onto each other as Travis continued to let his emotions out.

This went on till Travis actually started talking again, quietly telling Cait what was going on with him. Cait took the information she was hearing and just...accepted it as something that…

"Wait...Are you telling me that-" Cait realized after thinking 'what' Travis just told her.

"...Yes… …'That' did happen…" Travis interrupted with before Cait could finish.

The two of them talked it out for a while, till Travis was able to recover on his own before he started asking Cait what she was doing here.

"...I...was coming in here...to...say something I've been meaning to say for a while. Its… … ...I love you, Travis. But… …" Cait struggled to admit.

"But you're having second thoughts after what you learned about me?" Travis noted in a neutral tone.

"...No, it's not that. It's… … ...more like I don't think you're the type to move on since your wife… ..was taken away from you." Cait tried to say carefully.

"...And I still miss her, even now. But I also won't forget about her, even if I do move on. She's special to me…" Travis admitted as he held in his emotions.

"Then...What does that make us? You're the first real friend I've ever had in my life so far…"

"You're special to me, Cait. I...know that you know I'll be there for you no matter what…"

"... ...And I know for a fact that you know I'll do the same for you." Cait grinned gladly after saying that.

* * *

Travis took a second to dig around his pockets, find the item he was looking for, and spoke up saying once he did with, "...I think it's time I finally did something with this…"

Cait felt her hand move as Travis placed the item in her palm. It took a second for Cait to see that it was the wedding ring that Travis always had on him…

"It may not be worth much in caps, but I want you to have it, Cait." Travis simply said. "I want you to have it as proof that I'm fine with you being in love with me. Because I… I ended up falling in love with you as well."

Cait didn't know what to say at first, except she did end up saying, "...Even with everything you know about me?"

Travis just responded back with a confident and honest, "Yes."

"Then if that's the case, I'll… ...follow my heart. And it points to you, Travis..No matter what is in the way." Cait retorted, feeling like she needs to do something...

Travis gets the same feeling as well...

The two Commonwealth Wastelanders then get closer to each other again...as their faces get close and they lock lips…

The day ends up going by and ending following that moment...

End Chapter 24.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Nothing ends up getting said as Kyle and Aria look over to Travis and Cait, who were looking at each other first.***

 **Travis: *Just ends up saying, "...Well, now would be a good time to tell everyone else about that 'problem' of yours, Cait."***

 **Cait: *Feeling very uncomfortable.* "... ...But what if I don't want to?"**

 **Travis: "Then you'll have to deal with everyone not knowing the full context…"**

 **Cait: *Sighs* "... ...I'll tell them when I'm ready."**

 **Aria: "You...DO realize...that** _ **we**_ **" *points to herself and Kyle* "...know already...right?"**

 **Cait: *Moves over to them, staring them down as she makes a point to say, "And I'd suggest you keep to yourselves for the time being. Or else…"***

 **Kyle: *Hesitates slightly* "Or else…?"**

 **Aria: *eyes narrow, and hand in cloak currently clenching Change Ring* "Is that a threat?"**

* * *

 **Cait: *Clarifying, while softening her current expression,* "...Or else I'll be leaving this place and never coming back here ever again..." ***

 **Aria: *blinks, surprised***

 **Kyle: *Stunned* "...You're not actually being serious about that, right?"**

 **Cait: *In a serious tone* "I'm not joking, kidding, or whatever else you could call it. If you two tell anyone else about this before I'm ready...I think it'll ruin me."**

 **Aria: "Is that why you gave us that look and warning?"**

 **Cait: "Yes. I did that because as of right now, I can keep control of the situation."**

 ***Cait pauses to take a deep breath***

 **Cait: *Continues with, "My life has been out of my control for a very long time and I'm not letting go of whatever control I can get…"***

 **Aria: *doesn't have anything to say***

 **Kyle: *Unable to respond.***

 **Travis: *Joining in the conversation.* "And both of you now know that Cait loves me...And I love her as well. So if she ends up leaving, I'm probably...No, I will leave with her."**

 **Cait: *Speaking for herself and Travis at this point as she looks desperately at Kyle and Aria* "Can we trust you two to keep quiet about this for now?"**

 **Kyle: *Just responds back with, "Yes, you can trust me."***

 **Aria: "... … ...Alright… … …"**

 **Cait and Travis: *Both faintly smile as they say, "Thank you."***

* * *

 ***The commentators look at the camera and then at each other, before they all decide to end the commentary right then and there.***

 ***Cait approaches the camera and turns it off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	25. Chapter 25: Wasteland Teachings II

**Begin Author's Notes.**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***In front of the camera is Gene, looking at his watch until he notices the camera is on.***

 **Gene: *Starts off with, "Normally, this is where the usual commentators would be introducing themselves. However, due to recent events involving some of the people here, there will be some commentators that you won't hear from for a while."***

 ***He checks his watch quickly.***

 **Gene: *Concludes with, "Otherwise, we here at the Studio will now let you go back to what we normally do."***

 ***He moves away from the camera's view, as Kyle and Aria move into the front of the camera.***

 **Kyle: *Once he was in the right position.* "And welcome back to Fire Fallout: Nuclear Awakening!"**

 **Aria: "Been a while, I believe…"**

 **Kyle: "So, let us get to the chapter."**

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Loading Chapter…***

 ***Loading...Loading…***

 ***Loading Complete.***

 ***Chapter 25 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Wasteland Teachings II **

**One day later...**

" **This is 'Lonely' Miles speaking again. The first topic we need to cover is some news around the Commonwealth."**

" **A recent case for Diamond City's own Nick Valentine has just been opened to the public, for those who want to be in the know. The case was a missing person, with the individual being one 'Mr. Snowball'."**

" **Our good friend Valentine found Snowball out in the heart of the city, and brought him back safe and sound. When asked, all he said was, 'Just remind the little guy that Super Mutants never carry catnip with them…'"**

" **In other news, Brotherhood patrols have been seen more and more often around the swamplands near Quincy. And I don't know about you, but I think they are looking around since the fall of the Gunners."**

" **And now for the music. Here's a classic from the past…"**

* * *

The music played as Leon was in transit to Aria's tent, for something that he wanted to talk about. And as he did that, things were somewhat noisy around the camp as the others were out doing whatever they had on their minds.

The Capital Wastelander messed with the volume as he moved, either making it louder when the noise was stronger or lowered it when he passed by one particular Shepherd who had more sensitive hearing.

He kept adjusting it till he found just the right setting, letting him hear the music perfectly as it reached its end and a new song began playing.

It was then that he noticed he reached Aria's tent as one of the songs he really liked reached the point he likes, but also when it got really loud. He quickly fumbles with the volume and manages to quiet the music down, thinking that no one heard that loud part in the song.

Aria looked up from what she was doing, and called, "Come in…"

Leon carefully made his way into the tent, seeing Aria all by herself as she was reading through one of the books Kyle gave her. The book was a copy of 'Pugilism Illustrated' and Aria had some paper nearby on the table as she took notes.

"Hello Aria. Do you have a moment to talk?" Leon asked her.

Aria replied, closing the book, "I have a minute…"

Leon took that answer as a cue to sit down on a nearby chair before he starts talking again with saying, "So, did you hear about anything that went on yesterday, specifically with Morgan?"

Aria replied, "...More or less…"

"Then do you know that I ended up falling down a pitfall trap that Morgan made?" Leon retorted.

"...Yes…"

"And that it was a rather deep pit?"

"... … ...Yes…"

"And lastly, do you know that it was actually meant for Kyle to fall into?"

"... … ...That, I did NOT know…" Aria replied.

"Well...That's what I suspected was the reason why she was outside of the camp with him, just so she can make him fall into it…"

"I see…" Aria replied, "Any proof for that assumption?"

"There is the fact that she told me I wasn't the intended target...and the fact that she kept saying she was sorry making the pitfall in the first place."

"Alright… … ...Why are you here, then?" Aria asked.

"Depends… ...There are some things that deserved to be punished for committing, and some that do not…" Leon retorted, as he looked at Aria.

"... … ...You're asking for permission to get payback at Morgan…" Aria guessed.

"... ...No, I was just coming in here to tell you that I don't need your permission… For what I have in mind… …" Leon stated, as his expression grew more serious.

Aria narrowed her eyes. "And what would THAT be?"

"... … ...Nothing." Leon said, as he expression greatly lightened up.

Aria blinked. "Ah...I see...kinda…"

"There's nothing for me to do since I already accepted her apology. And the reason I'm here is just to tell you that fact and that I don't want any payback." Leon explained, as his demeanor turned more positive.

"...Alright…" Aria replied.

* * *

"And I'm sorry if I made you worry for a second there...Just wanted to get some practice in on making sure I know how to be more 'threatening' when I get back home and deal with the BOS…" Leon retorted back.

"... … …'BOS'?"

"It stands for the group known as the 'Brotherhood of Steel'. A collection of people that work together to contain advanced Pre-War technology from people because in the wrong hands, they could be used to destroy the Wasteland again." Leon elaborated.

"Based on what you're saying, I'm guessing there's a catch?" Aria asked.

"Oh yeah, big time. That's the goal they tell everyone they wish to achieve as they do their work. Except if you look at it in another way, they are just hoarding all of the tech they can get their hands on and make sure they survive." Leon answered back.

"...Either they were lying all along, or they succumbed to corruption…" Aria commented.

"It's the latter in my experiences...If you want to know." Leon said back as he thinks back.

"I see… … …" Aria replied, just thinking.

"Of course, it also helps that I worked with them way before they ended up like the way they are now…" Leon said as a follow up.

"You worked with them?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, I helped a lot of their 'Paladins' and 'Scribes' out with a lot of things. Getting books, shooting Super Mutants, help them build a robot, and they helped me back for all those and more." Leon answered as he recalled some of the favors he did for them.

"Scribes? And I remember there being a type of warrior known as a Paladin, but I have a feeling this Brotherhood's Paladins are different…"

"You'd be right for the Paladins. They mainly wear Power Armor, as in the type of armor Travis has stored away. And Scribes are their experts on retrieving, cataloging, and figuring out the technology the Brotherhood finds." Leon retorted.

"I see…" Aria replied, contemplating.

"They also have 'Knights', but they also have Power Armor like the Paladins. And… ..That's right they have Initiates, which are the people that are starting out with joining the Brotherhood at their lowest rank." Leon added as he dug around in his memory.

"Alright…" Aria replied, thinking some more...

"... ...That's right...They actually made me a Paladin as well. Before they reminded me way later that was just a honorary title and not an actual bit of recognition. And it's probably because of that 'Codex' having a excuse written for them to do that to me."

"... … ...Leon...you're ranting," Aria pointed out, "It sounds despicable to me too, but…"

"... … … … ...Sorry, its just that if I get going talking about them, I start to slip into my bias against them." Leon said after taking a moment to stop ranting.

Aria sighed. "Let's just...get off this topic for now…"

* * *

The tent flap moves out of the way, interrupting the conversation between Leon and Aria as they see that it was Kyle.

"... ...Was I interrupting something?" Kyle immediately asked once he saw Aria and Leon looking at him.

"No, you just happen to show up as our conversation died." Leon retorted, before quickly saying to Aria, "I'll talk to you later, Aria. And I'll make sure not to rant next time…"

The Capital Wastelander then moves on past the Mojave Wastelander and exits the tent to head for his own. Along the way, he turns the music back on via his Pipboy.

After a few moments once Leon left, the Courier looks at the Tactician with one question on his mind.

"I take it Leon had some stuff to say to you, Aria?" Kyle asked, recalling one of his previous interactions with Leon.

Aria nodded. "Yes, he did…"

"Let me guess, did he end up talking about the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Aria nodded.

"Knowing what I learned from listening to him, it seems like a bit of optimism has been taken out of him..." Kyle noted in his response.

"He did seem quite cynical ranting about them…" Aria replied.

The Courier remains silent after hearing that, not wanting to spend more time talking about Leon. Instead, he just takes the opposite side of the table Aria was sitting at and begins reading a different book.

* * *

 **Some time later…**

The Courier and Tactician didn't really have any leads, plans, or strategies to go over, hence the fact they were still reading the books they had out in front of them.

Aria was still reading that Pugilism Illustrated, while Kyle was reading through one of his copies of 'Duck and Cover!'. That book was mainly about tips, warnings, and suggestions about what to do with explosives if a civilian ever had to work with them.

The Courier takes a moment to pull down his reading material and look at the person opposite him.

"You know, despite the fact that I'm in a different world and all this future related stuff is going on...I think I finally got to a point where I'm actually bored and want to do something else." Kyle said aloud from his mind.

Aria asked, "Like what?"

"I don't know… ...Maybe something where everyone can have a chance at coming in first in a friendly competition?" Kyle said in response.

Aria thought for a moment, before asking, "What kind of friendly competition?"

"How about something like who has the best aim in camp, with bows and guns as the equipment?" Kyle retorted as a idea formed in his head.

Aria commented, "Are you sure that's fair? From observations, your guns are more accurate than our bows...unless you mean see who's better with using each…"

"Yeah, I meant using both separately for their own competition…" Kyle answered as more ideas popped in his head.

Shortly after saying that, Kyle jotted down the ideas he had in his mind on paper and then handed them over to Aria. She looked over each one and asked Kyle questions about how they were suppose to work.

The two then went back and forth on the ideas, adding in a few and removing others that weren't going to work out or were too one sided.

The list of ideas was then finalized as the two made sure each one would work after another round of going back and forth in talking. With that, they talked further on what needs to be done to get each competition set up...

* * *

 **The following day, out in the camp...**

Everyone in the camp was notified of the competitions yesterday, as some were asked to help set the competitions up, while others just practiced anything they could just to be ready for anything.

So, when the entire camp showed up in the area designated for the competitions after the morning meal, they were waiting to see what the first competition was.

The Courier made sure to stand out in front of the crowd as he began announcing what was going to happen.

"First off, I just want to say thank you all for showing up. But besides that, I'll get on with it and say that we'll be competing to see who is the best shot with a bow. So, who wants to go first?"

Virion stepped forward. "I do believe that I, the Archest of Archers, should go first."

"Then just take the bow up ahead and see how good your aim is, Virion." Kyle retorted as he pointed towards the makeshift range and target nearby.

The makeshift range was just a markered position with a few bows carefully laid out with arrows supplied as well and down the range was a training dummy marked with a target pattern. Behind the dummy was also a set of wooden boxes to act as a backwall just to avoid losing arrows.

Virion aimed, before letting loose an arrow...hitting the target near-dead center.

"Hmmm…'tiss expected…" Virion said confidently, in response to his shot.

Kyle looked back to the crowd, only saying, "Anyone else willing to take a shot?"

Despite seeing the near-close to center shot Virion landed on the target, people in the crowd did take up Kyle on his word to step up and take a shot.

Some of the people who stepped up were known for relying on swords, such as Chrom and Lucina. And in the case of those two, they had different results.

Chrom managed to get the bow into his hands and the arrow was set up right, before he pulled the string back too hard and somehow managed to disconnect it, making the arrow fall to the ground.

Lucina, on the other hand, did everything right and sent the string back with a strong pull and fired the arrow. It then landed on the left arm on the target dummy, missing the center by a big margin.

Aria then gave it a go and...all things considered, she did fairly alright: she hit the target, not dead center, but enough to where, if the training dummy were a real person, they'd probably be weakened considerably, if not taken out of the fight.

Frederick, however… … ...the less said, the better.

Just as one of the Wastelanders was about to head up, Chrom talked to Kyle about trying it again since he didn't actually get to fire the arrow.

So, after quicking telling Cait to let Chrom try again, she handed the bow over and moved away just in case he somehow managed to misfire it.

Chrom, on his second try, managed to prevent from breaking the bow… … ...and actually managed to hit the target. Like Lucina, he missed the center by a large margin, only managing to hit the right leg, but it was still a hit.

Once Chrom was done, Cait took her chance at firing the bow. She had the arrow ready as she aimed towards the target, pulling back the string as soon as she felt like it was perfect…

...The arrow flew...by the target and missed it completely, instead getting embedded into the edge of the back wall of boxes behind the target dummy.

Up next was Travis, who just did everything in terms of getting the bow set up just fine before messing up with the shot. The arrow did fly, but only barely made it to the left foot of the dummy.

Following Travis was the former scribe, who had a problem getting the string stuck to one of the parts of her armor. But once it was resolved, she managed to fire an arrow that landed in the target's right shin.

The next arrow to be fired was going to be from Leon. He took the position, loaded up the arrow, pulled back the string… ...and landed a better shot than Veronica, getting the arrow a small bit above where she ended up.

And just when it seemed like that was it for the Wastelanders, Kyle went up himself to the position and took a bow and arrow. He aimed carefully after doing the steps...And ended up landing a dead center shot… ...on the target's left knee.

More of the crowd took their chance at firing the bow, with some landing a better shot than the Wastelanders, while others just completely or barely missed the target altogether...

Finally, it came time for Noire to have her shot. She aimed, took the shot… … ...and landed a better shot than Virion, hitting the dummy dead-center. And just as the crowd was about to react from the shot...She grabbed another arrow and fired it…

...And the new arrow shot right into the arrow already embedded in the target, breaking it in half as the new arrow took its spot at the dead center of the target.

The crowd of onlookers cheered at that display, as even though she did better than everyone else, what she did was very impressive. So it became safe to say that Noire won that competition.

* * *

Once the excitement calmed down, Kyle announced that the next competition will begin shortly after they make a few adjustments with the target and the equipment for the range.

After a minute or two of some adjustments, the makeshift range had the bows swapped out for Leon's Hunting Rifle...Which was already loaded with bullets. The target was also swapped for another dummy, but this one had the markings moved upwards to its head.

"So, is there anyone willing to take a shot with one of our weapons?" Kyle said to the crowd, as he waited for anyone to step up.

No one actually moved up right away because of the fact that almost all of them never had a chance to use a rifle or a gun at all. Not to mention that they also didn't know how to fire one at all…

That prompted Leon to head over to the makeshift range and quickly show everyone how to actually fire it and to load the next shot, just in case. He did this a few times till everyone was comfortable enough that they know how to fire it.

And the first person to step up was actually Virion, feeling confident that he would be able to land a shot. He followed Leon's steps accordingly and pulled the trigger, only to barely brace himself for the recoil…

As the bullet… ...struck the back wall...missing the target.

As Virion placed the weapon down and left, the next person who went forward to the range was actually Henry. The rifle was picked up and aimed… ...as a bullet got fired out and landed a solid hit on the torso.

Still sporting that smile of his, he placed the rifle back down as others on the crowd took their turn…

After that, the only Shepherds that actually scored nominally good hits were Aria and her's and Kyle's future children...probably due to their previous experience with firearms.

So, after everyone in the crowd that was a Shepherd took their turn, the Wastelanders were ready to take their shots.

First one up was Leon, who just casually grabbed his rifle, made sure it was filled with bullets, and then made a carefully aimed shot, almost hitting the head of the target. Instead, he managed to hit the neck.

Once Leon was done, Cait stepped up and grabbed the rifle. She aimed it carefully, and fired off two shots instead of one. Both of them hit the torso, with one being higher than the other.

The Sole Survivor then walked up and grabbed the rifle, and used the iron sights on the top of the rifle as he aimed… ...and fired one shot. The bullet then travelled across and struck the face part of the dummy, just a bit aways from the marked center…

And after that, Veronica took her shot. However, with her being used to more with energy weapons, she didn't account for the recoil as well as the other Wastelanders as she fired the rifle. The resulting shot then collided with the dummy, landing inside the lower half of the torso.

The rifle was then handed over as the last Wastelander moved to the position and quickly scanned over the distant target. Once he was ready, he grabbed the rifle, held his breath as he pulled the trigger…

...And the gun ended up not firing at all.

The Courier then checks the gun, seeing that it was empty for ammo. So, just as the crowd starts wondering what was going on, he quickly reloads it and fires off three shots.

The first two shots hit the hands of the target, as the third shot collided with the dead center of the torso. He then aims the rifle...and fires again for the fourth time…

...As the bullet ends up missing the target's head by a wide margin…

"... ...Hey Aria, you mind coming up here?" Kyle called out after he thought out what to do with the last shot.

Aria approached and asked, "What is it?"

"Would you mind helping me aim this last bullet… ...As in fire it for me?" Kyle asked back, with a rather small smile.

Aria looked confused. "Uhm...why?"

"Maybe it's because I wanted to see you have one more chance since you are my love?" Kyle retorted, albeit a bit blush in the face from saying that out loud.

Aria blushed at the comment, before stuttering, "Uhm, o-o-ok…" She then took the gun, and started to aim.

"Just remember to take a deep breath and hold it when you pull the trigger to keep your arms steady." Kyle quickly told her before backing out of the range.

Aria nodded, and, taking Kyle's advice, did as he suggested, aimed, and… … ...

… ...The target's head moves back as the bullet hits the dead center of the marked section…

And with that, this competition was done, with Aria declared the winner for her second chance shot.

* * *

With the second competition of the day done, the crowd was lead to another setup where there were two small areas made that looked the same.

The areas each had 5 chests, locked and filled with items carefully placed away. Some of them were modified slightly to become apart of the challenge that was to go on.

Once everyone was able to see the chests laid out, Kyle started announcing again to the crowd.

"For our next competition, we'll be seeing who can pick these locks the fatest and retrive the most items within them without getting caught by any traps. So, is there anyone willing to prove they can tame any lock?"

Out of all the Shepherds, there was only one who stepped up to the challenge, that being the male known as Gaius.

And as soon as she saw him head on up, the Irish Wastelander decided to step up as well.

As Kyle waited for anyone else who wanted to participate, Cait decided to say something to her current opponent.

"I don't know about you pretty boy, but I'm going to win this easily. You may as well head back into the crowd..."

"Nice try, 'Caity'. I aim to crack all these jawbreakers so fast that you'll be left behind…" Gaius remarked back in a snide tone.

The Irish Wastelander turns quiet after hearing that, instead getting her trusty screwdriver and bobby pins ready.

And as no one else wanted to join in, the Courier directed the two competitors to the areas, with Cait taking the left one and Gaius taking the right one.

The two were waiting for the moment to start… as the Courier announced it a few seconds later.

Right away, Cait got her Lockpicking equipment into the first chest keyhole and picks the lock. She then cracks the chest open and gets the five small items inside out of the chest next to her before she jumps over to the second chest.

The Lockpicking equipment gets inserted into the keyhole and after two seconds of moving around, the lock gets picked. Cait immediately opens the chest and removes the seven small items from it before heading to the third chest.

Meanwhile, Gaius used his lockpicks and seemed to be going at a speed that was a fair bit quicker than Cait. He also removed what he found in the first two chests before moving onto the third chest.

The keyhole on Cait's side was tougher to pick than the last two by a significant amount. But the Irish gal made up the wasted time for picking the lock with getting the nine small items out fast.

Just as she moved to the fourth chest, she quickly glanced over to see Gaius already picking the fourth chest in his area. She got her equipment into the keyhole and noticed there was something off with the lock…

Gaius also noticed something wrong: the lock was easier to pick than the previous one, when he believed it should have been harder, due to the nature of the challenge. Expecting something, he made ready to bolt once he opened the chest. As it opened...Gaius barely dodged in time to escape a piece of old fruit that was catapulted out.

And a piece of old fruit got catapulted out of Cait's fourth chest, missing her as she dodged out of the way and pulled out the eleven small items located inside. She moved over to the last chest, putting her equipment into the keyhole.

As she tumbled around, she noted that it was a very tough lock. She kept moving around the pin and screwdriver, hoping to find the spot she needed to pick the lock quickly…

Gaius also had issues with the lock, and as he worked quickly, he made ready to dodge: the previous chest was rigged, and while it was easier than the previous ones, this one was harder than all of them...it still didn't mean it couldn't be rigged, so he got ready just in case...

The two kept moving fast, as they managed to pick their locks and open the chest to see that they had thirteen items inside to take out.

Cait quickly got almost all of her items out, but decided to leave one item behind…

...Just as Gaius got done removing all thirteen items out of his last chest and closed it shut. Cait managed to close her last chest as well, but quickly saw that he had 45 items out to her 44 items.

The two thought it was over...until they both hear something and the last chest on Gaius' area suddenly starts rising up, only to fall backwards onto the ground on its back.

Following that, Kyle quickly explained to both them and the crowd that it was a draw. The reason for Cait being that she didn't set any traps and got 'caught', but she also still had 44 items. And as for Gaius, he did get all 45 items, but he was 'caught' at the last chest due to the makeshift trap in the ground going off.

So with that, they both lost and won. And despite that fact, Cait did take a moment to say something to her opponent.

"Not bad, pretty boy. You know your way around locks as well…"

"And you know when to stop stealing all the sweets out of a jar, Caity…" Gaius retorted back.

The two made their way back into the crowd as Kyle began talking yet again about another competition that was going to be occuring in a bit. And the interesting thing was that as the crowd waited, there was some amount of anticipation within them for whatever would be on going next.

* * *

 **Hours later, inside Aria's tent…**

The remaining competitions came and went, with plenty of participants from the Wastelanders and Shepherds. There was wins and loses, but the true winners were everyone involved getting some amount of excitement from witnessing and participating the events.

Of course, it all had to come to an end when the sun started to set and everything had to be cleaned up and stored away.

And after all of that, the Courier and Tactician moved back to the latter's tent…

* * *

Sitting on one side of the table was Kyle, reading through the Pugilism Illustrated book while on the other was Aria, reading through the Duck and Cover! book.

"I know I said it already, but thank you for helping me out by allowing those competitions to go on." Kyle said to Aria after he looks up from the book.

Aria smiled and replied, "No problem…"

"And I have to say, that headshot you landed on the dummy earlier was actually pretty great…" Kyle added.

"Yes...about that… … ...why did you allow me to do that? I've seen you make MUCH better shots, at much longer distances…" Aria asked.

"Because I didn't want to land that shot...I wanted you to. It's why I asked you over and gave you the second chance." Kyle answered back.

"... … ...Alright…" Aria replied, before smiling. "...That...was really sweet…Thank you..."

The Courier just smiled back as before he got back to reading, as did the Tactician.

Time passed, as it began easier to tell that it was getting later into the early night.

Feeling tired, the Courier makes sure to ask something of Aria after he puts the book down.

"...Uhm...Aria, do you mind if I stay with you tonight? If...you're okay with it, that is…" Kyle said, albeit a bit nervously.

Aria looked at him...and smiled. "Sure, I don't mind…"

He was a bit relieved to hear that, so he ended up responding back with, "If you don't mind then, I guess I'll head to bed now, given how I feel at the moment. Feel free to join me when you want to as well…"

The Courier gives one more smile back to Aria, before he makes his way to the bed and gets comfy after getting on it and drifts into sleep.

Time passes a bit slowly from that point, as Aria notices how tired she was getting. Eventually, she had to place down her book and retire to her bed. Of course when she got there, there was Kyle already taking up space as he was asleep.

She ended up getting onto it either way, got comfortable, and started drifting into a dream as well.

The night went on as they continued sleeping, yet one of them started moving. Kyle ended up getting his arm across the bed and end up touching Aria on one of her shoulders.

The Tactician didn't get disrupted from her sleep, but the touch reminded her that Kyle was nearby. So, she ended up moving closer to him after getting his arm carefully lifted around her.

The Courier did notice that and ended up slightly pulling himself closer to her as well, as they ended sleeping the rest of the night in physical contact with each other. Both of them were subtly smiling in their sleep because of that.

End Chapter 25.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 **Kyle: "And that was the chapter. In short, I believe those competitions were entertaining."**

 **Aria: "Not to mention they could potentially raise morale…"**

 **Kyle: "So in a way, it worked out for everyone else and myself since I helped get it all started."**

* * *

 **Kyle: *Switching topics.* "Besides that, we also got to see that our little group of Wastelanders are not that good with using a bow as a weapon...at all."**

 **Aria: "And very few Wastelanders are good with a gun…"**

 **Kyle: "Save for you, Mark, Morgan, and… ...Henry of all people for some reason."**

 **Aria: "Henry DOES spend a lot of time around Leon, who uses the same type of gun that was used for the competition…"**

 **Kyle: *Continuing on.* "Then there was the lockpicking competition between Cait and Gaius, which actually looked like it was neck and neck…"**

 **Aria: "It sure did…"**

 **Kyle: "Of course, Cait resorted to using bobby pins and a screwdriver, which is not as effective as the lockpick that Gaius was using…"**

 **Aria: *shrugs* "They don't have lockpicks in your time?"**

 **Kyle: "No, they do exist. It's just that they extremely rare and harder to find then bobby pins and screwdrivers."**

 **Aria: "Also, where'd you get the idea for the booby-trapped chests?"**

 **Kyle: "Its from the traps I've seen across the Mojave. Some of them are usually trip wires or pressure plates that are connected to explosives, rigged shotguns, or a big hunk of metal on a chain that would swing into you…"**

 **Aria: *winces* "Ouch…"**

 **Kyle: *Recalling one event.* "There was actually a time where I got hit by one of those chain traps, except they used a big rotting hunk of meat. It hit me right in the gut and I recall Veronica telling me later that I smelled horrible for a while because of that."**

 **Aria: "...Again: ouch…"**

* * *

 **Kyle: *Moving on.* "And other than that...I don't have much else to say about the chapter."**

 **Aria: "Me neither…"**

 **Kyle: "And that is it for the chapter."**

 **Aria: "We'll be back when the next chapter is ready to appear!"**

 ***The camera turns off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	26. Chapter 26: Forgotten Friends

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***In front of the camera is Kyle and Aria, who look ready as always.***

 **Kyle: *Starts off with, "And welcome back! The next chapter is ready to go."***

 **Aria: "That's right!"**

 **Kyle: *Makes sure to say, "We would be saying something about this chapter, but we were instructed to not actually say anything about this chapter until after it was shown."***

 **Aria: "Or rather, we were instructed to not even read it until it was shown…"**

 **Kyle: "Instead, I'll get the chapter started right now. We'll be back once its over."**

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Chapter 26 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 26: Forgotten Friends**

 **The following morning...**

"... … ...No… ...I said I… ...was not going...to…let you go… …" The Courier muttered in his sleep, still in physical contact with the Tactician.

"...I… ...rather you not… ...let go of… me…" The Tactician muttered back, still with her eyes shut.

"... ...Except… ...I need… ..to leave… ...You… let the… ….tomes...move in. Now… ...I'm… ..getting… ...out…" The Courier muttered out, not catching on with what he said.

Aria then groaned, and asked, "What...was that?"

"...What's … ...the ….point … . ..in… ...purchasing… a… ...horse… ...If you… ...don't… buy… oil. You let… ...the… ...tomes… ...move in. Now…..I'm… … getting… ...out..." Kyle said, still not awake, nor moving like he was apparently saying.

Aria sat up, before beginning to try to wake Kyle up.

Kyle noticed Aria moved and was trying to get his attention,so his eyes open up as he waits for the sleepiness in his eyes to clear.

"... ...Morning, Aria. How… ...Did something go on while I was asleep?" Kyle said, after he looked towards Aria.

Aria replied, "Something like that," before telling Kyle what happened while he was still sleeping.

"Sorry, I guess I was trying to say the lyrics to a song I know while I was sleeping...Did I say anything weird?" Kyle asked as his response.

Aria sighed. "Well…" She then explained to Kyle what he had said.

"... ...I really said all of that? Guess my time here is affecting me more than I intend to allow…" Kyle noted back.

Aria seemed nervous about something, before, somewhat insecurely, asking, "Is it possible...you are...somehow...for some reason...actually _missing_ the Wasteland?"

Kyle hesitated to answer, before he replied a bit nervously with, "... ...I… ...think that may be… ..the case. It is… …where… ...my new home is…"

"Where do you live in the Mojave, anyways?" Aria asked.

"I live in a place called 'New Vegas'. And well… … ...It's rather complicated about saying what it is…" Kyle retorted, before getting nervous at the end.

Aria then questioned, "Why is that?"

"Because its basically a city, or a very populated area full of people that gamble money and lose all of it, do rather inappropriate habits like take chems, and who knows what else…" Kyle answered back.

The Courier then elaborated more on New Vegas and what he had to say wasn't a lot of good things about it…

Aria took a moment to take it in, before asking, "...Why do you LIVE there?!"

"... ...Like I said… ...Its my new home out in the Mojave. And well… it is also the place where Benny lived when I was trying to track him down for shooting me twice."

"... … ...Please elaborate on why you _stayed there_ then…" Aria nearly demanded.

Kyle elaborated more on why he continued staying there, until he checks his Pipboy and pulls out one key item as part of his explanation.

What he ended up pulling out was the Platinum Chip…

"...And this is the most important item I've ever had in my life...This is what Benny wanted from me before he shot me twice...And also the reason why I stay in New Vegas." Kyle said, ending off from his entire explanation.

"... … ...And this is… … …?"

"The Platinum Chip. What looks like a casino chip is actually a piece of technology that held very critical information that would determine who would win the war between the NCR and Caesar's Legion…" Kyle answered.

"What kind of information?" Aria asked, now curious.

"... ...I'd rather not get into that right now. Not because I don't want to, but because in order to understand the bigger picture...I'd have to tell about one other person. That being the one and only, 'Mr. House'." Kyle answered back.

"...Alright...and I guess you don't want to talk about him right now?" Aria guessed.

"The things about him go pretty far into a lot of complicated stuff...It even got to the point it would affect my friend Veronica and I mean when I say that she is a really good friend of mine… … ...So yes, I don't want to talk about him now." Kyle retorted back before turning silent.

"...Alright…" Aria replied.

The two remained silent after that, but soon got back to talk about something else as they got out of the bed and got ready for whatever would happen that day...

* * *

 **Some time later...**

The camp was still out of leads or areas to keep on looking for the remaining future children, but that end up getting sidetracked by a message from Old Hubba.

The old man had requested help with stopping three new groups of Einherjars that arrived near the land he was living in. So, the group ended up agreeing to help, given that the Einherjars could be in the control of someone else that may use them for dangerous intentions.

So that meant they had to travel back to the Bunker Island…

* * *

 **A few days later...**

The group arrived at the island and was given directions to where the Einherjars were located, which they headed to once they set up camp just in case they were going to spend time on the island.

And as they were moving to the location, the Wastelanders noticed something off in the distance in the path they were taking.

Looking down the scope of his rifle, Travis remains quiet until he ends up saying, "We need to stop here. There is something potentially dangerous up ahead…"

Aria asked, "What do you think it is?"

Travis sighed before answering with, "It looks like a 'car' has ended up here somehow and its stuck in the path we are taking…"

"Uhm…'car'?"

"You know how you guys use horses, wyverns, and pegasuses to move around? We would call that transportation, except ours was usually by a machine made of metal on wheels that ran on oil. That is what we normally would refer to as a 'car'." Travis explained back.

"Ok...what's the problem, then?"

"The type of cars around the Wasteland are usually destroyed to hunks of metal, but some of them are still in terrible enough condition where they could explode if any other explosives or gunfire goes on near them...And that car up ahead could be one of them and it doesn't look like it 'ran on oil'…"

"...Ran on oil?"

"...What I mean is that its a 'nuclear powered' car...Which means if it explodes, it'll be bigger and there will be radiation released because of it…"

Aria stared at the car for a moment...before gulping nervously, remembering her little bout with Radiation Poisoning.

"Just stay back here, and I'll go off to make sure to see if its completely wrecked or if its a explosion waiting to go off…" Travis said as he headed off alone towards the car.

A minute or two passes before he returns with a closer look at the car, ready to say something.

"Good news, it's just a normal wrecked car. That and we can pass by it without any trouble because there is enough space for us to literary go either way around it." Travis reported to Aria.

Aria sighed with relief. "DIDN'T want to go through THAT again…"

As the group passed by the car, Leon was going to say something about his experience where he found a parking lot full of those of those exploding cars, but kept it to himself since now was not a good time to talk about that.

Instead, he went ahead a bit of the others...As he saw what looked a big figure and a tall figure out in the distance. He moved up closer as he kept his eyes focused on them.

Travis noticed what Leon was seeing and hand over his scoped rifle to help him out, which the Lone Wanderer used to get an ever better view on the figures.

"... ...You gotta be kidding me! Why are they out there?!" Leon yelled out once he put the scope down from his view.

The rifle was passed back to Travis quickly as Leon then rushed on over to the figures in the distance, leading everyone to be confused about who he saw out there.

"I have a gut feeling we should catch up with him before something ends up happening with him getting attacked…" Kyle noted aloud as he looked to Aria and the others.

Aria nodded in agreement.

The group rushed off to catch up with the Lone Wanderer… As he finally got close enough to begin talking to the figures.

* * *

"... ...Charon? Fawkes? What are you guys doing here?" Leon called out once he was in hearing distance.

The tall figured looked towards Leon, having a neutral expression...Or what would be one if his face was easier to read if he wasn't ghoulfied. The big figure next to him had a easier expression to read, but it helped that his head was big...as was the rest of him with his yellow skin showing through the clothes on him.

"Leon, it's good to see you again, friend." The big guy called out.

The tall figure didn't say anything, but his face did change to an expression of surprise as he saw it was Leon.

"Still as quiet as ever, Charon?" Leon called out to the tall fellow.

"... ...You know why I stay quiet, Leon. And don't think I'm going to be talking much more longer…" Charon replied back, before shutting his mouth.

"So how are you doing, Fawkes? And aren't you supposed to be in Underworld?" Leon said as he swapped over to the big fellow.

"I...have no idea on how I am faring, friend. I just appeared here with a few others like Charon here. We've been making the best of what we can from what we found around here." Fawkes retorted as he saw more people approach beyond Leon.

The group caught up to Leon finally, but they also ended up getting a clear view of Fawkes and Charon…

One of them looked like some kind of giant man beast. The other...like some kind of person with their skin flayed off.

The two in turn look at the crowd of onlookers, seeing all of their outfits and weapons that didn't look familiar to what they were used to.

"Are these your other friends, Leon?" Fawkes asked, but in a rather elegant tone.

"I'd wouldn't call all of them as my friends, but they are the people I'm with today, Fawkes." Leon answered back.

Fawkes looks around the crowd more, noting some people like Chrom, Kyle, Frederick, Sully, and Aria, who was the last person he stopped and focused on.

"And who is this particular person? She looks very important, given from what I can tell from looking at her…" Fawkes asked to Leon.

Aria immediately felt nervous about the attention.

"That's Aria. The Tactician of the group I'm traveling with. And yes, she is important as you guessed Fawkes." Leon answered back.

"Then I'm pleasure to meet you, Aria. I apologize for my current visuage looking more intimidating than I want to be, but that is an unfixable consequence of what has fallen before me in the harsh, yet mysterious, past." Fawkes said to Aria, doing his best to show his actual personality.

Aria just nervously nodded.

Fawkes looked back to Leon, before he ended up saying, "Perhaps it would be best to meet with the others that showed up as well? We could use some help in figuring out where we all ended up."

"That sounds like a good plan, Fawkes. Why don't you and Charon take the lead and we will follow?" Leon retorted.

The big guy nodded back as he then told the tall guy near him it was time to get a move on. The duo then took the lead as the group followed them, under Leon's suggestion to do so.

* * *

As they travelled, Kyle made sure to be next to Aria as he started saying something to her about the two escorters.

"Never though I see a 'Super Mutant' and a Ghoul out here as well, in addition to them knowing who Leon is…" Kyle quickly told her.

Aria nodded. "Agreed…"

"By the way, Fawkes is the Super Mutant and Charon is the Ghoul, in case you were wondering." Kyle said as a follow up.

Aria nodded. "I figured…"

The Courier then went over what he knew about Super Mutants with Aria, explaining briefly that Super Mutants were mutated humans that were usually turned into big brutes that had the intelligence of a bag of hammers and that they can be violent for many reasons.

But just as he was about to begin telling her about FEV, the group arrived at the location the duo escorts were taking them to.

The location was a big old field full of more wrecked cars, metal junk, large broken bits of concrete, and lots of improv barriers made of junk. Somewhere inside this messy landscape was 8 mattresses and some furniture to resemble a dining area near those. There was also a lot of these green ammo crates scattered around, with ammo still inside of them.

* * *

As Leon looked around, the group remained cautious just in case something did go on. But nothing seemed to go on as Leon and the two escortes returned to the group.

"So where is everyone else, Fawkes?" Leon asked once they got back.

"They should be out looking for supplies, so they will be back at any time-" Fawkes tried to say before being interrupted.

"Hey Super Mutant! We're back-" A female voice was calling out as the person it belonged to runs up to the group see someone in particular. The group also sees a few more people and one robot catch up as well.

"What the hell? How did this madman butcher end up here of all places?" The female asked in shock, upon seeing that person up close…

"That depends...Maybe I was sent here to make sure you stay dead, Clover." Leon retorted to the female person staring at him.

Clover immediately tried pulling out her hidden sawed-off shotgun out from a holster she had on the back of her dress as a reaction from hearing that...

But she was too slow, as Leon pulled out his silenced pistol and fired before she did. He landed multiple shots to her torso, causing her to collapse forward into the ground, not moving.

This act shocked everyone, even Fawkes and Charon and the others that were with them. The little band of misplaced people quickly ran into their messy position, making sure to get into cover and get their weapons ready.

As for Leon and the group he was with, he just quickly told everyone one thing which was, "I'll explain everything once this is over, because we have a battle to deal with now."

Analyzing everything, Aria said, "Looks like we found the Einherjars…" Soon, the group gathered their weapons (and in the applicable cases, mounts), and got ready for a fight.

And just as they were finished getting ready, the group saw Clover disappear before all that remained was just a familiar looking card that laid on the ground. It further proved that this group were the Einherjars.

* * *

The Courier took the ground, armed with Lucky in his hands as the Tactician took to the air above, sporting a Thoron tome in her hands as the two made their way towards the enemy.

Through the mess of steel and barriers, they ended up crossing paths with the robot they saw amongst the band, as it was getting ready with its flamethrower arm to strike Kyle.

The Courier then shot the arm holding the flamethrower weapon, causing it break apart from the bullets that collided with it. In retaliation, the arm holding the plasma weapon was powered up as the robot quickly backed off and started firing plasma towards Aria.

Aria did her best to dodge, while countering with her Magic attacks. The plasma shots did end up missing due to their slow speed and the magic she sent as a counterattack landed on the plasma weapon, destroying it.

With only one option left, the robot swapped to its only remaining arm and tried to smack Kyle with it. Instead, it was shot off with Lucky after Kyle reloaded his gun.

But the robot kept moving, deciding to ram itself into Kyle as its eyes focused on Kyle. It was about to ram him, before it gets struck by a Thoron bolt and short circuits for a bit before its thruster shuts off and it crashes to the ground.

The Mister Gutsy tried to yell at its attackers, but soon deactivated as the damage done to its systems had taken their toll, with its three eyes also deactivating.

The two moved on before Kyle ended up getting smacked in the back with a nail board from one of the enemy that hid amongst the barricades. The Courier tried to counter, but ended up getting shoved to the ground and his opponent swapped over to the Chinese Assault Rifle he was lugging on his back.

Just as Kyle tried to recover, he got kicked back down as the opponent was getting ready to unload his entire clip into the Courier…

...Only for a Thoron Bolt to be 'unloaded' into the opponent's gut. The leather armor he was wearing did nothing as the former raider ended up collapsing backwards to the ground, unable to move any more.

"Thank you, Aria." Kyle quickly said as he got back on his feet.

Aria replied, smiling, "No problem…"

The two got back to being on the move, but took it a bit more slowly this time as they advanced.

* * *

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield was Leon, Veronica, and Dogmeat. Leon and Veronica were working together as the Wasteland Mutt followed them just in case.

The trio passed by a few green ammo boxes, which they kept noted to check later. But just as they reach a open area, they get shot at with bullets from a pistol.

The bullets collided with their armor, doing some damage to them and the remainder to the armor. They quickly found the person responsible hiding behind a barricade before he peeks up and begins firing again.

Leon decided to move into cover, as did Veronica and Dogmeat. He got his hunting rifle ready and waited for the right moment.

He then got stood up, kept his eyes peeled as the opponent stood up from cover ready to fire his new clip of bullets. Instead of getting the moment to do so, Leon fires two shots and lands them in his opponent's gut.

The man with the pistol and jacket ends up falling onto the barricade before he slides off it and lands on the ground behind it. His eyes were closed as he stopped moving.

The former Scribe and Lone Wanderer checked each themselves just in case before they advanced, with Dogmeat still in tow.

* * *

Elsewhere on the battlefield was Travis and Cait, slowly advancing as they ran across ammo boxes that they also noted down to search through later.

They end up reaching a barrier that was next to a wrecked car with its doors being used to reinforce the concrete barrier up ahead. Travis and Cait ended up hiding behind the barrier on their side as they ended up hearing something.

As the two remained quiet and out of sight, a enemy entirely dressed in T-45 Power Armor was advancing slowly towards their direction, yet not knowing they were there.

Cait readied her shotgun as Travis cranked up his musket to a full charge as they heard the loud steps of the Armored opponent get closer.

Once they were sure the noises were close enough, the two residents of the Commonwealth stood up and blasted their opponent away with their weapons. The shells from the shotgun did some damage and sent the laser pistol they were using out of their hands, but the laser helped by doing more damage.

The opponent quickly pulled out a Super Sledge (that looked way different from the one Cait had) and swung it, trying to take out the two sneak attackers. Travis and Cait dodged out of the way in time and then opened fire again.

The Power Armor user ended up collapsing backwards to the ground, unresponsive as the damage they did to her was more than she could handle. The Irish Wastelander then made sure she stayed down by using her own Super Sledge and struck the torso multiple times with heavy swings.

Once that was over, the two made sure to keep advancing as Travis swapped over to his silenced pistol and Cait reoladed her shotgun.

* * *

The pairs and other members of the group all ended up finding their way to an wide open area in the middle of the sea of barricades. In there, they saw Charon and Fawkes on the other side taking cover.

The pairs saw each other and noted their position as they advanced forward…

...Only to witness the Super Mutant emerge from cover with a big old backpack object on him and lugging around a Gatling Laser in front…

"FALL BACK! HE'S GOT A GATLING LASER!" Leon yelled out as he began to turn and run back to cover.

Veronica, Travis, Dogmeat, and Cait also rushed back to cover, with Travis and Cait literally jumping over the barrier and hunkering down.

Kyle and Aria ended up taking to the air with the Pegasus, hoping that they were able to ascend high enough to avoid getting hit by Fawkes.

The Super Mutant activates the Gatling Laser, sending countless red beams into the barricades, keeping everyone behind the barriers. He also tried to aim up, but had problems as Kyle and Aria kept on the move to the point it was hard aiming the thing to ensure accuracy on full auto.

So focusing back down the barriers, he held down the trigger till he was forced to reload. During that time, Charon emerged from cover and started unloading shells into the barriers as well.

This went on till Veronica managed to peak up at the right time, striking Charon in the torso with all three lasers from her triple barreled laser rifle, end the Ghoul's fight as he slumped backward into the ground.

The Super Mutant kept trying to find some ammo for his Gatling Laser, but just could not find it. So he threw the gun and backpack off before hiding back behind the barrier and emerging with his own Super Sledge.

Fawkes then hopped over the barrier and began advancing, taking shot after shot from those behind the barriers opposite him. Thanks to being a Super Mutant and being a resilient one at that, he shrugged off the pain and kept going.

The pairs on the ground kept firing, till one of them decided to be risky and challenge him. That was Cait, who jumped over the barricade with her own Super Sledge already fired up.

The Irish Wastelander sprinted and made a mighty swing that struck Fawkes in his right leg, damaging him as he decided to bring his sledge overhead.

Cait ended up dodging in time as he tried to slam it down on her and counter attacked by doing the same, except using the engine on her sledge's back to do so.

The rocket sledge collided with Fawkes' head, disorinating him. It then allowed Cait to land a powerful swing on his torso with that landing as well. She then followed up that by landing another slam to the head…

The Super Mutant had reached his end...as he ended up falling forward, right into Cait. The Irish Wastelander then had to use her weapon as leverage to end up directing the Super Mutant in a different direction, causing him to collapse to the left of Cait.

And with that, the battle of the band of Capital Wastelanders turned Einherjars had ended.

* * *

 **Some time later...**

The battlefield was cleaned of those ammo boxes the Wastelanders found, along with the Einherjar cards of the enemies they fought. The haul of ammo was rather decent, given that it had at least 7 full boxes of each ammo the Wastelander mainly used.

And after that was done, the Wastelanders returned to the entrance of the messy field of cars and metal to see Aria and the other Shepherds waiting for them.

Leon ended up being the first one to talk to Aria, as he ended up saying, "I owe you an explanation as I said…So what do you want to know?"

"What was with the female you shot right off the bat? And who were they all, anyways..."

"First of all, that was Clover. She was the bodyguard of one 'Eulogy Jones', a massive figure in the slavers around the Capital Wasteland back in the day As for everyone else here, those were either some of the friends I left behind, like Charon and Fawkes, or were people I met but never kept up with them…" Leon stated back.

"And the machine? The ball-like one with the 3 arms?" Aria asked.

"That was RL-3, a Mister Gutsy Robot I met once being sold by a trader one day. The trader told me that RL-3 was picky about who was going to buy it and well he didn't want to work with me. Simple as that." Leon explained, recalling what he can.

"So...what made you realize something was off about them?" Aria asked.

"Besides them being here, the biggest clue was the fact that Clover was alive. I ended up killing her when I had decided to basically shut down 'Paradise Falls', a big location for the slave trade, by myself and Dogmeat." Leon answered back, meaning every word.

Aria just nodded in reply.

The Wastelanders then regrouped with the Shepherds, as they all moved back to camp and made sure to hand the cards they got after the battle back over to Old Hubba.

* * *

The day ends up passing by, as the group settles in for the night. Some of them like Leon, Kyle, and Travis had a gut feeling something else was going to be off with the other two Einherjar groups.

For others like Veronica, Cait, and Aria, they were lost in thought over the night about what friends their respected counterpart knew. And for Aria, she recalled one person Kyle talked about...That being the friend he called Boone.

End Chapter 26.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 **Kyle: *Pauses for a sec.* "...That… ..was quite an interesting chapter…"**

 **Aria "Why do I have a feeling more people from your guys' world will appear as Einherjars?"**

 **Kyle: "Well, the thing is we don't know for sure who will end up as a Einherjar. Because between the the three of us, we've met a lot of people…"**

* * *

 **Kyle: *Moving on.* "And as for the Einherjars we fought against, they all were met at one point by Leon."**

 **Aria: "And there were three that were certainly not human… … ...or not human** _ **anymore**_ **, I would guess in two cases…"**

 **Kyle: *In response.* "Ghouls are still human actually. It's just that they lose their skin and can live longer than others. Otherwise, they are still just as human as you and me."**

 **Aria: "I wonder why they can live longer...And I don't think there's anything wrong with not being considered human anymore: We have Manaketes and a Taguel in the Shepherds after all…"**

 **Kyle: "I brought it up because Ghouls still like be treated like people just like everyone else. Same for Super Mutants, Robots, and whoever else wants that same treatment."**

 **Aria: "Like I said, just because you aren't 'human', or not so anymore, doesn't mean you're not a 'person'...I cite the previous two examples I gave as proof…"**

 **Kyle: "Then you have the right idea, Aria. Most people in the Wasteland still treat others like dirt and I think they would do the same for Manaketes and Taguels if they ever show up there…"**

 **Aria: "Same goes for another resident in this Studio. *cough*Sharriar*cough*"**

* * *

 **Kyle: *Concluding with, "And besides that...Is there anything else you want to note from this chapter?"***

 **Aria: *thinks for a moment* "...Not that I can recall…"**

 **Kyle: "Then that means we don't much else to say about this chapter…"**

 **Aria: "Well...see you all later then!"**

 ***Camera switches off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	27. Chapter 27: Mojave Heroes

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera switches on.***

 ***In front of the camera is a small blue penguin looking creature, wiping the lens with a piece of cloth, as the two usual commentators were waiting patiently behind it.***

 **Prinny: *Once he was done cleaning.* "Okay, you doods are ready to go."**

 ***The creature moves out of the way, letting the commentators be able to talk.***

 **Kyle: *Starts off with, "And welcome back! The next Chapter is ready to go."***

 ***Camera switches over right away just as Aria was about to talk.***

 ***Chapter 27 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 27: Mojave Heroes**

 **The following day…**

The camp was up and about, with the day looking very grey and feeling a bit colder than the previous day as the Courier exited his tent. For some reason, he ended up dreaming about stars until the moment he woke up.

Keeping what little memory he had of his dream left as a metal note, he made his way over to the Tactician's tent.

"Hey Aria, are you awake in there?" Kyle called out from outside the entrance to her tent.

"Yeah," Aria called out to him.

"Can I head inside to talk to you about something?" Kyle made sure to ask back.

"Sure," Aria replied.

Kyle entered the tent and saw Aria looking down over a collection of papers and a smaller map on the table that showed the entirety of the land they were in at the moment.

"What are you working on, Aria?" Kyle asked as he got closer to get a better look.

"Trying to find where the rest of the missing Einherjars are…" Aria replied, "And trying to prepare strategies for who and/or what they are, regardless of if they're from our past… … ...or your guys' world like the last set…"

"I assume you marked down the area where we met that last set, right?" Kyle asked.

Aria nodded in reply.

"...Maybe it's just me, but I think it would be a good idea to start from there and search outward in one direction...Like head north or east from there." Kyle said as he got a look at the map and the marked area.

Aria thought and nodded. "There's that idea...there's also the idea of splitting into two groups and each group searching in a different direction…"

"But if any of the Einherjars are like the last set...They may have access to firearms and other dangerous ranged weapons if they are immediately hostile upon being found. So there's a increased risk in spliting up everyone..." Kyle noted in response.

"I know...I'm considering that when trying to figure out what to do…"

Kyle looks over the map again, noting their current location and the field of metal. The two locations had a path to reach each other, which was also marked with the mention of the car stuck on it.

"... … ...If I was stuck on this island and I needed to search for food and clean water, I'd be looking for the nearest body of water...So if they were on this side of the island, would it make sense they be around here?" Kyle mentioned as he noted a river way to the south of the 'car' path.

Aria looked over the map, before nodding, "Quite possibly…"

The two kept looking over the map and talked about what to do in more detail before they ended up deciding to stick together as one group, but search out from the field of metal first before trying out that other spot of interest Kyle pointed out.

* * *

 **Some time later...**

The search for the Einherjars lead to the group checking over the field of metal that was the battlefield of their last battle. At first, nothing seemed out of place till the Wastelanders helped searched around.

Some of the improv barricades and all of the green ammo boxes were missing from where they once were as pointed out by the Wastelanders. In addition, the mattresses that were being used by the Einherjars were taken as well.

The group reformed and then made their way north to begin the search. They only went so far north before they moved back to begin searching the east. But they didn't end up finding anything as they reach the point they had to turn back.

With that, Kyle suggested they try out that river next since it was within the range of their search plan. The group then made their way south, crossing the path they used to get to the field of metal.

As they got closer to the river, they started seeing signs of something being in the area with the dirt and grass ahead of them disturbed by something being dragged across them. The group kept advancing…

...As they ended up close enough to see the river had some usual items located on the ground nearby. It was full of improv barricades and chunks of concrete just like the field of metal, except there were small makeshift platforms that a bit high off the ground behind the barriers.

* * *

The group got closer, until they hear what sounds like a dog barking (that was not Dogmeat) and some electronic beeping.

"Wait, I think I know what that beeping is from...It sounds like-" Kyle tried to say as a small spherical flying robot flew around a barricade and accidently speed into him, knocking both of them to the ground.

The Courier quickly recovers to see the robot up close before he ends up saying, "...ED-E, is that you?"

The robot floats up before shaking up and down quickly, as its way to say yes. Kyle got up by himself as he canned over the robot just to make sure what he was seeing was real.

It was then that Veronica moved closed to the robot, in the same state as Kyle in terms of surprise. It also looked at her, shaking up and down in apparent joy at seeing her as well.

But just before the former scribe could talk, a series of barks could be heard from an dog approaching the group. Except the dog looked a bit off...given that its brain was on display under a glass dome where its head was. It also had a large chunk of its body with metal instead of flesh and fur.

"You're here as well, Rex?" Veronica called out to the dog.

The metal dog barked back as his response, before it looked around and saw the others in the group.

Aria then asked, "What's going on?"

"It seems that we found some of our friends from the Mojave…" Veronica answered first.

"And these two are named ED-E and Rex, with Rex being the Cyberdog and ED-E being a Eyebot." Kyle added as he scanned them over again.

Aria then replied quietly, "My guess is they're both Einherjar…"

Kyle quietly said back, "Then let's see if we can find something off with them…"

The Courier then whistled to get Rex's attention, which the Cyberdog did as it waited for Kyle to say something.

"Say Rex, do you still hate rats?" Kyle asked the dog.

The Cyberdog tilted its head, not understanding what Kyle was talking about. The Courier then quickly asked for Travis' hat, which was given over just like that.

After placing the hat firmly on his head, the Courier talked to the Cyberdog again saying, "Rex, can do me a favor and look at the hat I'm wearing?"

The Cyberdog looks up to see the hat, but tilts his head after a bit.

The Courier quickly gave the hat back to Travis before he quietly told Aria, "Yeah, I think you're right. Rex hates rats with a passion and he hates hats as well because the word can sound like rats to him…"

Aria replied, somewhat uneasily, "Oh...kay then…"

"Yeah, I know its weird. The man who really owns him told me he had no idea why Rex hates hats as well besides the possible bit where it rhymes with rats...But he's not sure on that either." Kyle responded back.

"I...guess if it's the only explanation… … …" Aria replied.

* * *

The others in the group get quietly informed that any of the people they find out here may be Einherjars and that they should get ready for a battle quickly.

While they all started doing that, the Cyberdog started barking again and then ran off to warn the others, as the Eyebot was too distracted focusing on Kyle.

The Courier quickly got out his Ballistic Fist from his Pipboy and then punched the robot with it, followed by the barrels on the gauntlet firing off as well. The spherical robot went towards the ground, unresponsive as its systems started failing till it turned silent.

Aria then turned to Kyle. "Alright, who and what do you think we should be expecting?"

"...Chances are it'll be my other friends besides Rex, ED-E, and Veronica. That means we have… … at least five others to worry about." Kyle retorted as he went through his memory.

"What can you tell me about them?" Aria asked.

"One of them may be Boone...The same one I told you about a while ago. Then there is… ..."

Kyle then spent a small bit of time to quickly explain the rest, continuing with info on Cass, Lily, Raul, and Arcade that Aria used to help with making her battle strategy.

The Eyebot eventually turned into a card, as Aria finalized her plan and quickly got everyone to follow along. Once that was settled, the battle was ready to fought.

* * *

Advancing further into the mess of barriers, Kyle and Aria were staying on guard with their weapons in their hands, ready to go as they traveled on foot. As always, Aria was equipped with her Thoron tome and Kyle swapped out his Ballistic Fist for his hunting shotgun.

The two kept their eyes out as the sound of something rings out from behind them. Kyle immediately turns around, seeing nothing behind him…

"Do you feel like you're being watched Aria?" Kyle asked as listened carefully to the surroundings.

Aria nodded in reply.

Another sounds reaches them, except its behind the direction they were facing. Kyle kept focusing after that as he makes sure his finger is on the trigger.

Just as the sound switches directions again, Kyle opens fire towards it. The shells collided with something… ...as the figure that was invisible suddenly turned visible...

...Revealing it was a Nightkin, a variation of the Super Mutant, wearing blue clothes that in combination with other items made the Super Mutant look like a female gardner…

But Kyle knew what that outfit belonged to...Meaning it was the one and only Lily.

The Nightkin started charging towards Kyle after getting the helicopter blade off her back, ready to strike him with it...

...Only for a Thoron Blast to lance forward towards the Nightkin.

The blast stopped her just for a second, before she kept on moving…

...And was rewarded with getting blasted repeatedly as Kyle unloaded shell after shell into the Super Mutant.

She soon fell to the ground almost reaching Kyle, unable to keep going despite pushing herself to keep going. The Super Mutant then stopped moving after that.

Kyle made sure to reload his shotgun before giving a signal to Aria to remain quiet as she could, which she nodded back and followed Kyle as he began advancing more slowly into the battlefield.

* * *

The former scribe and Lone Wanderer advanced onward elsewhere on the field of battle, stopping as they come across a Ghoul in a old jumpsuit armed with a big revolver.

Leon just had his hunting rifle ready to fire, before the Ghoul fires faster and shoots Leon in his torso. Thankfully the armor helped protect him, but the bullet did its damage.

Veronica rushed forward, managing to close the distance and knock the Ghoul's revolver out of his hands before following and punching his face with her non-gauntlet hand.

The punch knocked the old Ghoul back before he grabbed out his trusty lead pipe and tried to swing back at Veronica. She blocked it and followed up with a Scribe Counter, knocking the opponent to the ground.

But just before she could follow up and land another punch, the old Ghoul got shot in the arm and torso, ending the fight with him.

Veronica looked back to see Leon catching his breath as he reloaded his hunting rifle and then checked himself to find the bullet didn't pierce his armor.

The two made sure to take a moment of brief rest as they then continued onward…

* * *

Dogmeat was by himself or was until he ran into Travis and Cait. The two told the dog to follow them, which he did as they advanced forward on a different area of the battlefield.

Up ahead of them was two opponents waiting behind cover, with one being a female in a brown leather jacket with a two color plaid shirt, blue jeans, a nice looking hat, and armed with a shotgun. Next to her was the Cyberdog, ready to attack as well.

The trio advanced, causing the two opponents to break cover and begin attacking. The shells sent from the female ended up missing as the Commonwealth Wastelanders dodged out of the way, as did Dogmeat.

The Cyberdog closed the distance, but only to get kicked back hard by Cait before she unloaded two shots into the chassis of the Cyberdog. The half robotic dog then fell after that, unable to keep attacking.

The female opponent ended up throwing her shotgun into Cait, stunning her before getting punched as a follow up. Travis tried to retaliate back, but ended up not able to do anything as Cait threw a punch back before he could do anything.

The two females then got into a fistfight, which Cait ended up winning faster due to her more aggressive focus and the fact she used a trick by showing her opponent's hat down into her face before sweeping the legs.

The Irish Wastelander then stomped on the downed opponent in the gut with her feet a few times before retrieving her shotgun and ramming its stock into her opponent's face. It was clear to see after that the carvanner had cashed out and remained still as her eyes closed.

* * *

The pair of Courier and Tactician ended up reaching a area of the battlefield where there was a raised platform in front of them, with seemingly no one there. They advanced only to split up as a bullet flew by Kyle as he noticed a scoped rifle pointed at him.

Dodging by the skin of his teeth, he unloaded his shells to the platform, causing the scoped rifle to go back into hiding. But in exchange, a series of plasma shots were sent his way.

The raised platform had two of the remaining enemies on there. One was the owner of the scoped rifle, wearing a notable beret signaling who he was, as the other was in a lab coat armed with a more advanced and sleek looking plasma handgun.

Aria attempted to counter his shots with her Thoron Tome.

The Thoron blast ended up striking the plasma weapon user, taking him out of the fight and leaving the sniper nearby on the platform to handle things from there.

He popped back up and fired a aimed round into Aria's tome, sending it flying out of her hands as he loaded the next shot. It also didn't help that it made the Tactician panic as he was about ready to fire...

...Only to get his rifle sent flying out of his hands as a solid shell knocked it away. The shell came from Kyle's shotgun, which he then sent more as the sniper took cover.

A second or two passes before the sniper gets off the platform and tries to slash Aria with the machete he had as backup after he rushes to her...

Aria did her best to defend with her own sword, blocking the slashes sent her way…

...As Kyle finished reloading and blasted the sniper, doing enough damage to allow an opening as he reeled in pain from getting shot.

Aria used this advantage to press the attack.

The sword slashed against the sniper, doing more damage to him as he tried to attack back...Only to end up collapsing after dropping his machete first.

Once he stopped moving and eventually disappeared as a card took his placed on the ground, the battle was over.

"... ...Even if that was an Einherjar, you just fought against that friend I told you about. The man named Boone." Kyle noticed as he retrieved the card off the ground.

"...I see…" Aria replied.

"How about we go see if we can find that Thoron tome you were using and hope it still works… … ...And I'm here to help since you look like having it sent flying out of your hands freaked you out." Kyle said in response, noting the expression she had when that happened.

Aria nodded. "Yes, I was a bit...unprepared...to be disarmed like that…"

The two searched for the tome, finding a bullet lodged into it. The Tactician tried to use it again, expecting it not to work...as it does just as expected.

Kyle looked over the tome after helping Aria remove the bullet as he ended up saying, "... ...I think I can repair this and make it work again if you let me try, Aria."

"Maybe...if not, we have more of them in storage…But I appreciate the offer, and we can give it a try...thank you..."

"No, I should be thanking you for letting me try with your help, Aria." Kyle retorted back.

Aria just smiled back at him.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

The day passed as the battlefield was picked cleaned, but with none of the green ammo boxes that were taken ended up being found. For the Wastelanders, they took it as a sign that the third group of Einherjars must have taken them.

But the one thing they did find amongst the barriers was the missing mattresses, meaning that these Einherjars also engaged in scavenging the previous battlefield after the group left it yesterday.

With that, the group moved back to the camp and arrived as the sun was starting to set. A quick meal was whipped up for those who needed to eat.

Following that, everyone ended up turning in for the night, including Aria and Kyle as they agreed to share the bed in Aria's tent since Kyle wanted to get the Thoron tome repair attempt done early as possible the next day.

The two ended up climbing into the bed and drifted off into sleep next to each other, having rather pleasant dreams despite what went on that day…

End Chapter 27.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***The camera sees that the two commentators were waiting for it to start recording them again before they saw that it was doing that right now.***

 **Kyle: *Pauses for a sec.* "Sorry about that. The console that gets the chapter started messed up and played it as we were doing the intro.***

 **Aria: "This thing REALLY needs to get fixed sometime…"**

 **Kyle: *Moving onto the actual commentary.* "While we will make sure that gets fixed later, we can talk about the chapter. And the first thing I'd like to mention was the fact the Einherjars we faced were actually people I knew as close friends."**

 **Aria: "I'm starting to see a pattern here…"**

 **Kyle: *Hints her to not talk more about it with, "I think I see it as well, but we probably should not say it out loud, Aria. We may be wrong about the last group of Einherjars..."***

 **Aria: "...Probably…"**

* * *

 **Kyle: *Changing the topic to something else.* "So just to ask you personally, how good are you at using swords, Aria?"**

 **Aria: *shrugs* "Not the best: good enough to hold my own for a period of time...but I'm better with magic…"**

 **Kyle: "Then maybe it would be best if you had someone like Leon or Cait help you practice using a sword more? Or there is the option to have me help you train as well…"**

 **Aria: *shrugs* "I guess...as long as it doesn't interfere with my other training and work…"**

 **Kyle: *Comments back with, "To be honest, you're probably the most organized person I ever met. So I think you'll be able to find just the right time to get the practice in…"***

 **Aria: "Hmmm…" *thinking***

* * *

 **Kyle: *Thinks for a few seconds.* "And I kinda… ...ran out of things to talk about. Do you have anything else you wanted to note, Aria?"**

 **Aria: "Not that I can think of…"**

 **Kyle: "Well, just in case we missed something, we'll mention it in on the next chapter. So that means the commentary is over."**

 ***Camera begins shutting off, catching at the last moment Aria staring at the console outside of the view of the camera.***

 ***Camera finishes shutting off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


	28. Chapter 28: Commonwealth Legends

**Begin Author's Notes**

 ***Camera turns on.***

 ***In front of the camera is Kyle and Aria, looking ready as they focus on the camera.***

 **Kyle: "And welcome back! The latest chapter is ready to go."**

 **Aria: "And the console's fixed…"**

 **Kyle: "We will also start the chapter right away, since the notes we got for this one told us to hold off on saying anything till it was shown, just the other two."**

 ***Camera switches over.***

 ***Chapter 28 starts.***

* * *

 **Chapter 28: Commonwealth Legends**

 **The next day, inside Aria's tent...**

The Courier was adrift in sleep before his dream ended and he woke up. The first thing he ended up seeing was Aria, still sleeping.

Despite the fact that he would like to return to that dream somewhere within him, he focused on looking at Aria instead. The more he looked at her, the more he thought about her.

As she started to stir, he looked away while he still thought about how much he loved her.

Once it was clear for him that she was fully awake, he just turned around to say, "Good morning, Aria. Did you sleep well?"

Aria replied, smiling, "Very well, thank you for asking…"

"... ...That's good to hear. Uhm...I need to ask something just in case. Do you still love me very much?" Kyle asked rather nervously.

Aria replied, "Of course, why would you have to ask that?"

"... ...I ask because you're the first girl I'm deeply in love with, so I...I'm not experienced with all these emotions and feelings I have when I'm with you." Kyle admitted as his answer.

Aria just giggled in reply.

"... ...Is it really that funny hearing me saying something like that?" Kyle retorted, albeit more neutraly then nervously.

"No, no...I'm...just a bit flattered I'm your first…" Aria replied.

"Then what about you, Aria? Am I the first love you ever had?"

"I...I believe so…" Aria replied, racking her brain for information.

Kyle smiled after hearing that as he retorted with, "And even if I wasn't...I'm still beyond glad that you love me back."

* * *

The two eventually got off the bed and settle some things first before they ended up heading off to different locations in the camp.

The Courier brought a few items with him from his tent, with one such being a weapon repair kit. And besides that, he also just had a few rolls of duct tape and two packs of wonderglue.

The Tactician was carrying a spare Thoron tome, in addition to a Thunder tome, that was taken out from the storage tent.

The two then met back up at Aria's tent, which they both entered as Kyle set himself up at Aria's table to begin working.

"First off, I'd like to see the spare Thoron tome, so can you please hand it over, Aria?" Kyle asked as he laid the items he had on the table around.

Aria nodded and complied.

The spare tome was moved to the position Kyle wanted, before he cracks open the damaged tome and looks through to see where the damage was.

"If you want, you can help me out by getting that weapon kit over there opened and take the items out of it." Kyle mentioned to Aria as he kept checking through the tome.

Aria nodded and got to work.

Once he was done checking over the damaged tome, Kyle placed it below the spare and then collected that to scan it over quickly.

The spare was then done being scanned as he looks to Aria, saying, "So I have two methods I can do to fix this Thoron tome. I can either fix it with the spare or try to fix it with a similar type of tome instead. Which method do you think I should do?"

Aria blinked, before asking, "You really think the second option is possible?"

"I've repaired armor and weapons that were more advanced than the items I used as parts...I think I can do the same with tomes." Kyle retorted. "If you don't mind, hand me the weaker tome if you have it."

"...Alright…" Aria replied uneasily, before pulling out a Thunder Tome from her cloak.

The Courier accepted the Thunder Tome and then placed it in front of him a bit to his left. From there he moved the damaged Thoron Tome to a bit to his right.

The spare tome was then cracked open and made sure it was above the two lower tomes as he began the repair, with the Tactician watching from nearby.

Pages were flipped through slowly in the damaged tome as Kyle stopped on pages ruined by the bullet. He then began searching through the Thunder Tome pages and carefully ripped them out one by one.

The ripped pages were then coated in wonderglue and duct tape and carefully set nearby as he then began ripping out the damaged tome's pages. With those spots open, he moved the glue and tape pages into them as he checked the spare tome and see how it looked.

He kept doing this to the point where the Thunder Tome had almost all of its pages removed and placed inside the damaged Thoron Tome. And once the last replacement page was added, he closed the two other tomes.

The Courier then got his hands on the 'repaired' tome and then turned to Aria, only to say, "There. I'm all done with the repairs, so it should work now."

Aria looked at the tome for a moment, before taking it to a target, and giving it a test fire.

The magic forms together, creating the Thoron Bolt as it gets launched out and strikes the target inside Aria's tent. The target gets damaged and burned from where it was hit after it lands.

Aria looked surprised at that. "Wow, it actually works…" She then turned and smiled to Kyle. "Thanks a lot!"

"And I didn't even have to resort to using the spare in the repair, so for the loss of one Thunder Tome, we got a Thoron Tome back. So, I do very much appreciate the thanks." Kyle retorted back.

The Courier cleaned up the table and moved the leftover tomes around before he ended up getting his Ballistic Fist placed down on the table.

"But now that is over, you want to keep helping me out and learn a few tricks, Aria?" Kyle asked as he got the weapon repair kit items Aria got out moved over to him.

Aria smiled. "Sure, I'll help out…"

The two sat next to each on the table and began working together as they worked on repairing the Ballistic Fist. They also made sure to shut off the barrels as a precaution...

* * *

 **A few hours later…**

The search for the last group of Einherjars led the group to head to a point of interest that was west of the field of metal. The map of the island that Aria had showed that a forest littered with fruit bearing trees was located in that direction, so it was agreed searching there first was a good idea.

As the group advanced through the large collection of trees, they stopped in their tracks as they reached a large opening where the ground was filled with improve barricades that dot it.

That set off alarms for everyone given the last two groups were fought in areas like this, allowing the go ahead to get their weapons and anything else ready before they advance any further.

The Wastelanders took the lead as the group kept on advancing, stopping when they hear noise coming from beyond the barricades.

The noise gets louder as they see what looked like a green Super Mutant rushing towards them armed with a modified sledgehammer with lots of electrical parts on it. Travis loudly sighed as he saw the Super Mutant get closer and closer.

The Super Mutant then blurted out, "Strong smash puny humans!" as he tried to strike the nearest target…

...Before he ends up getting blasted onto his back from Kyle's hunting shotgun and gets filled with more lead.

With the Super Mutant taken care of, Kyle looks to Travis and notes his earlier reaction with, "Let me guess, you know who this big guy was, Travis?"

"Yes, you guessed right. That is Strong, a Super Mutant I've met and managed to convince to live with others back in the Commonwealth. Suffice to say, If he is here and with the way he acted...We found the Einherjars." Travis responded as he mentally noted similarities from the previous groups.

"Do you have any idea who the other Einherjars could be?" Aria asked.

The Sole Survivor sighed again as he quickly told Aria about his other friends. Their names were Piper, Preston, Curie, John Hancock, MacCready, Danse, Deacon, Nick, and Dogmeat.

Aria blinked. "...Is Dogmeat a common name in your world?"

"It seems so. But where the Dogmeat with us looks as he is, the Dogmeat I know from the Commonwealth is a different breed of dog called a 'German Shepherd'. So you'll know right away which one is a Einherjar." Travis retorted back.

"...I see…" Aria replied, "... … …'German Shepherd'?"

"Like I said, it is what the breed or type of dog he is called. And I… ...I just realised there's technically a 'Shepherd' we will be fighting against." Travis responded back with, before slightly grinning.

* * *

Taking the humor aside, the battle was going to be underway as Aria took the information and formed a battle plan to be relayed amongst the others.

And once the whole plan was known and the pairs were formed, they split off and advanced forwards into the landscape of barriers.

Kyle and Aria were being backed up by Leon and Veronica as the Tactician made sure to stay low as she could with her Pegasus. The two pairs end up running into three opponents already hiding in cover.

The two robots in cover moved up and sprayed out fire and lasers, stopping the paris in their track as they had to dodge. This allowed for the third person in hiding to poke their rifle out of cover and begin firing as well.

Leon and Kyle ended up switching to their energy weapons and opened fired on the two robots. Kyle struck the one with the flamer with his Gauss Rifle and Leon landed a series of shots on the one with the laser.

Both robots ended up crashing to the ground, unable to keep fighting as their systems crashed and went inactive.

As for Veronica and Aria, the two were laying down a coordinated set of fire on the male sniper still hidden in cover. Veronica kep firing her triple barreled laser rifle to keep the opponent to stay down till she ran out of ammo for the clip.

Once the laser shots died down as Veronica had to reload, the male sniper moved up out of cover, getting his rifle aimed on Veronica. He focused on her, getting ready to fire…

...Only to face a face-full of Thoron...

The male sniper got sent flying back, landing on the ground with no movement coming from him.

The pairs reorganized themselves before advancing onward, with the males reloading their energy weapons as they kept pace.

* * *

Elsewhere on the battlefield was Cait and Travis, being backed by Leon's Dogmeat. The trio ended up reaching a split path where they got attacked by two male opponents and a dog.

Travis recognized the dog as a German Shepherd and was about to shoot it when the Capital Wastelander with them beat him to the punch. The Capital Dog got his Commonwealth opponent down into one of the paths where they fought it out.

But that still left the two male opponents able to fire upon Cait and Travis. So as they took cover, Travis took out his silenced pistol and fired upon the male wearing the older looking outfit, landing a few shots on their arms and legs.

Cait, meanwhile, fired shells onto the other one male sporting a nice set of hair and shades, who took cover at the right time. They exchange fire until Cait switches turrets and nails two shots on the male wearing the old outfit.

He collapses to the ground as his odd hat falls off, allowing a better view of his lack of skin. The Ghoul remains face down in the ground as he stops moving.

Travis reloaded his pistol and then sent a barrage of fire towards the shaded male, landing all of the shots as he ends up falling as well. The shades fall off as he stops moving, unable to do anything else.

While those two quickly reloaded, they moved up the path the Capital Dog took to see him land a finishing bite on his opponent. The Commonwealth Dogmeat just falls to his side, unable to keep on facing the pain as he stopped moving.

The Capital Dog looked back to see Cait and Travis, before barking to get their attention after they pause from seeing the other Dogmeat they knew going down.

The two snap out of it and get back to moving down the path they were on...Only to find a dead end that held all of the missing green ammo boxes.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a different area of the battlefield, the two pairs saw that the path they were taking went into two split paths up ahead. Kyle and Aria said they would take the left one, while Leon and Veronica called the right one as their pick.

The pairs then split off into their path, each reaching a area where there was more places to take cover.

For Leon and Veronica, they ended up running into a man inside a large suit of Power Armor that looked like it was similar to what Travis had back at camp. Near him was what looked like a man, save for the missing bit of what looked like skin around his neck that showed metal bits beyond that.

Leon ended up getting his plasma rifle ready, calling out the man in Power Armor and getting his attention. Those two opened fired on each other as they moved, leaving Veronica to face off against the metal man, who pulled out a very large revolver and started opening fire.

Leon used the cover to his advantage as he aimed his plasma shots on specific spots of the armor, causing them to take damage till they ended up breaking apart. The armored man kept firing back with his laser rifle as that went on.

But eventually, Leon managed to land the defeating hit after landing a shot on an exposed weakpoint on the armor. The ground shook as the armored man fell to the ground, unable to keep in the combat.

While that ended, Veronica kept on the moving and weaving from cover to cover as the metal man tried to pick her off with a well aimed shot. She closed the distance and ended up pushing the revolver away before punching her opponent again.

The metal man tried to punch back, but got countered and then uppercutted with the gauntlet, sending him flying into the air as the metal inside him made noises.

The metal man shut down as his systems collapsed internally, ending any actions he had left in terms of combat.

The two partners then caught up with each other as they advanced onward, only to reach a dead end, except this one didn't have anything worthwhile in it.

While those two rounded back, Kyle and Aria ended up running into two opponents as well, except these two were one female in a red trench coat and brown cap with a pistol and a male in some sort of old duster and brown hat...armed with a Laser Musket.

Kyle immediately tried to divert attention to himself with both opponents, but only got the female to follow. He swapped his weapon to his Ranger Sequoia as he fired at his opponent, missing as she took cover at the right time.

Those two kept on the move from cover to cover as they traded fire and reloaded, leaving their allies stuck to deal with the other.

The male opponent dove for cover before cranking up the musket, until it was ready. He peeked his head above the cover, only to duck at just the right moment to avoid the Thoron Blast sent to him.

He then poked up again, aimed his musket and opened fire at Aria specifically…

...Who saw the attack coming and moved erratically to mess up his shot. The laser soared by her, leaving the musket to be cranked again for another shot. The man ducked back down and cranked up another shot to go.

He ended up standing above the cover, firing right away...

...Putting him in full view of Aria and a Thoron Blast...

The Laser and Thorn Blast speed past each other...as the laser ends up missing Aria by a bit. The Thoron Blast, however, landed where it was aimed, striking the male in his torso.

He ended up collapsing to the ground after dropping his musket. The man tried to get back up, but ended up lacking the energy to do so as he fell for the last time.

With that taken care of, Aria looked around for Kyle as the gunfire between him and his opponent stopped. Both of them had to reload while they took cover and once they were done, they both went up out of cover.

The two exchanged quick gunfire, with the female missing the Courier by a few inches as he ended up shooting her pistol out of her hands. He then followed it up by landing a torso shot, which knocked her back onto the ground.

The moment she landed, she tried to get back up before the pain stopped her and she had to lay back down. She then closed her eyes as she felt weaker and weaker.

* * *

The pair check the area quickly with their eyes, finding no more threats ready to attack them as they moved closer to each other.

"You alright, Aria?" Kyle asked, sounding tired from all the moving he had to do.

Aria nodded in reply. "Yeah, I'm fine…"

"I think that was all of them..." Kyle

Aria thought for a time...before saying, "...Not yet...I have a BAD feeling it isn't over yet…"

"How? There isn't anyone here except us…" Kyle retorted, but before he noticed something felt way off.

"It feels like… … ...something...or someone...is watching us…"

The two kept their weapons handy, but that didn't help out much…

… ...As a figure who was hiding near the man with the laser musket aimed his rifle at Aria's mount. They would have seen him, but they couldn't do to the figure being invisible from a device activated before these two showed up.

He held onto the rifle as he held down the trigger…

...Causing multiple blue lasers to shoot out and struck the Pegasus multiple times..to the point it ended up turning into blue ashes, causing the Tactician to plummet to the ground suddenly.

The Courier tracked where the shots came from and unloaded every bullet there as fast as he could. And once that gun was empty, he switched over to his Ballistic Fist and sprinted over to land a massive hit on the now visible figure on his face. The barrels went off, but missed the figure given that the figure fell out of their range.

The glasses the figure was wearing broke apart and fell to the ground before he was then slammed to the ground and Kyle kept punching him in the gut, with each hit setting off the barrels on the gauntlet.

Once it was beyond clear this figure wasn't getting back up, Kyle rushed back over to Aria, helping her up as he quickly scanned her over for any possible wounds.

"Please tell me you're not hurt, Aria...That… that heatless freak could have gotten us both..."

Aria wasn't entirely paying attention, instead staring at where her Pegasus's ashes landed.

The Courier looked to where she was, seeing the ashes as well. He turned silent...unable to find anything to say. But what he did was made sure to keep Aria up and be there with her as she processed whatever was going through her mind.

The other pairs found their way to these two, but stopped in their tracks as they saw the ashes and Aria without her Pegasus...They quickly figured what must have happened.

It took Aria some time to change from looking shocked and deeply saddened like she was… … ...and when she did, it became anger as she marched right up towards Travis...and once he faced her...punched him in the face. "You forgot someone! Another Einherjar attacked, and now...now…" Her anger gave way to tears as she began sobbing.

The Sole Survivor felt the pain go away as Kyle walked up and explained who the last Einherjar was. He noted the all black suit, glasses, and general facial appearance of the Einherjar, which brought back long forgotten memories for Travis.

"Aria, I'm deeply sorry for missing one potential candidate for an Einherjar, but if Kyle is telling me who he saw… … ...I mean this with every ounce of who I am, but I completely forgot about him existing." Travis said to Aria, in his most sincere, yet also regretful tone he can muster.

"How could you have FORGOTTEN somebody?!" Aria asked between sobs.

"Because I'm still a human being… ...And I'm not perfect. There are some things you just can't remember at all unless it's staring you right in your face and then you just notice it." Travis responded back.

The Courier stepped in, making sure to say what he noted about the Einherjar with, "... ...There is also the fact that we had no idea where he was until he attacked. Not to also mention… ...I contributed by letting my guard down too soon. So if you want to blame someone, blame me Aria."

Aria just fell silent at that point.

Kyle also turned silent, as did the other Wastelanders. Things stayed that way as no one moved, till one of them did. He moved closed to Aria, moving his arms apart if she needed someone to cling to finish letting everything out...

...And Aria took the offer, sobbing in Kyle's arms, for her fallen friend.

The others had to leave, giving these two a moment they needed alone.

* * *

 **Some time later…**

The Tactician and Courier eventually left the area where the fallen friend was and the other Wastelanders returned to collect the ashes. They stored it away carefully inside a temporary container for transport until they found a suitable replacement to store it.

The rest of the battlefield was picked apart, mainly for the green ammo crates as they were also taken along and added into the storage tent.

But the demeanor of the Tactician was still at a very low point, even with Kyle doing everything to help her, even as they stayed together through the rest of the day.

As the moon moved into the sky, the two moved to the bed inside her tent, but neither of them could sleep.

"... ...I'm worried about you, Aria. I...just don't what else I can say to help…" Kyle admitted as he ended up turning to look at her.

Aria just looked up at him, then back down. She was better than before...but not by much.

The Courier racked his mind for an idea...until one such idea appeared. He checked his Pipboy and hoped whatever was playing on the radio could do something.

The volume was adjusted so they could only hear it...as the next song started to play. It was 'Heartaches by the Number.'

Kyle quietly sang along with it as he looked at Aria, noticing she was looking up now.

Aria just listened to the song as it played.

And as time went by, the song eventually ended after its last line about when it will all end.

The Courier turned the radio off, before he said, "... ...I'm sorry if that didn't help you, Aria. I...I...just wanted to do whatever I can, like I said…"

Aria didn't say anything, but she did silently admit to herself: it was better than doing nothing...

"... … ...I still love you very much, Aria…" Kyle quietly said as he tried to get himself to sleep.

"... … ...I love you too…" she replied quietly.

The night passed by after that, as the Tactician ended up falling asleep as well. Her dream was replaying the memories she could remember from her past. And as they went by, she also found new memories that had Kyle in them…

...Seeing those in her dream gave her some happiness to at least mitigate how she still felt…

End Chapter 28.

* * *

 ***Camera switches over.***

 **Kyle: *Unable to say anything at the moment.***

 **Aria: *frozen in shock over what happened***

 **Kyle: *Finally able to start talking.* "... ...Well, the hunch we had on who the last Einherjars were turned out to be correct…"**

 **Aria: *still shocked at what happened***

 **Kyle: "... ...Of course, not everything went well… ...A Invisible Einherjar managed to…" *Turns silent, unable to continue.***

 **Aria: *still shocked***

 **Kyle: *Finding something to say.* "... ...But after 'that' happened, I made sure that whoever did that was unable to do that again…"**

 **Aria: "... … ...Who even WAS that, anyway?"**

 **Kyle: *In response.* "... ...I have no idea. We would have to ask Travis, but he's currently not available at the moment."**

 **Aria: "It'd be a good time for him to be here to tell us...except he isn't…"**

 **Kyle: "So… ...I think we'll have to call it here because there is not much else to say. And while there may be more to say about what 'happened' in this chapter..."  
Aria: "...I really don't want to even THINK about it…"**

 **Kyle: "... ...That's why we need to stop. We'll see you when the next chapter is ready."**

 ***The camera starts to turn off, catching at the last moment Kyle giving Aria a comforting hug.***

 ***Camera switches off.***

 **End Author's Notes.**


End file.
